


Desire's Reincarnation

by Seditious46



Category: Nogizaka46 (Band)
Genre: Conspiracy, F/F, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-03-13 20:29:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 27,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18948250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seditious46/pseuds/Seditious46
Summary: Shiraishi Mai is a young and aspiring graphic designer in Tokyo. At the agency she starts working, she quickly falls in love with a co-worker, who soon thereafter becomes a victim of a violent robbery. A crime to which there is more than meets the eye. Searching for the true reason of the murder, she must fight to stay alive, and to protect the lives of the ones dear to her.This story is a Nogizaka46 fan fiction. Characters are based on the groups members with the same name, but the circumstances are all fantasy.Contains sex, violence and multiple uses of the word 'fuck'.English is not my native language, so there might be errors. Comments and tips to improve this story are appreciated, but above all, I hope you enjoy reading it!





	1. Semblance

"All right, here we go", Shiraishi Mai whispered to herself, standing in front of a big office building. With trembling legs, she stepped inside and walked towards the elevator. "You can do this, you can do this", she whispered as she entered the elevator and pushed the button to go to the 46th floor.

Ten minutes later, Shiraishi stood in front of six women. The sounds of them typing, clicking and having phone calls filled the room. 

"Good morning everyone! Can I have a minute? This is your new colleague", said Shitara Osamu, the owner of the company. "Miss Shiraishi, please introduce yourself." 

"Good morning, my name is Shiraishi Mai. I am 21 years old and I live in Chiba. After having studied graphic design, I am really happy to be working here. I hope I can be a valuable addition to the team." 

The women, busier with their computers than paying attention to their new colleague, welcomed her hesitantly. "Don't mind their attitude", Shitara said, "there is an important deadline coming up so there is a bit of stress...Oh, by the way, I will be out of town for a while, so I will leave the task of training you to Miss Matsumura." 

Matsumura Sayuri looked at her boss, her eyes shooting daggers and she let out a sigh. "You know I don't have time for that! There is still much to do before the deadline!", she said with grinding teeth. 

"Just show her the ropes. She will pick up the rest. She is a talented young woman", Shitara replied and quickly left the office.

Shiraishi's nervousness rose by the somewhat chaotic introduction. "Don't just stand there, come here", Matsumura said. Shiraishi followed her orders without hesitation. "This is your desk. And this is your computer. Over there is the kitchen, if you need to get some coffee or other drinks." Shiraishi nodded. "And this will be your first assignment. A company named Bemars Corp. needs a new corporate identity. This file contains their profile and all the assignment details. I like to see what you come up with, so please show me two proposals tomorrow morning."

"Two identity proposals by tomorrow morning?", Shiraishi asked, surprised by the unreasonable request. 

"Did I stutter?", Matsumura replied with piercing eyes.

"N-no, tomorrow morning will be fine." 

Since there was no time to waste, Shiraishi jumped behind her desk, turned on her computer, opened the file Matsumura handed to her and started reading. Full of effort, she started drawing some sketches on paper. "Hmm, this isn't it", she murmured while looking over her first drafts. She trashed the paper and started over, a process she repeated a couple of times.

Irritated by her lack of progress, she went back to the file but found it to be lacking information. It had a short description of the company's identity, that seemed to be copied from their website, but without any information about the actual expectations of this assignment.

"This is ridiculous", Shiraishi thought. She knew that once she got a job in the real world, things wouldn't be handed to her on a silver platter, but this was a bit extreme. She looked around but Matsumura was nowhere to be found. In desperate need for more information, she decided to walk up to her colleague sitting nearest of her.

"Excuse me, Miss Yoshida... am I right?"

"What do you want?", Yoshida replied without looking away from her computer.

"Well, I have a question about this assignment and..."

"You'll have to ask Miss Matsumura, remember. She is the one who trains you."

"Yes, I know, but I can't find her."

"She'll be back, now leave me be."

Shiraishi walked back to her desk and sat down, holding back her tears. She looked at Yoshida who was earnestly working on her computer. She was typing without pause with her slender hands, not afraid to damage her beautifully manicured nails. Her large brown eyes reflected the computer screen.

"What are you looking at?", Yoshida asked when she noticed Shiraishi staring at her.   
"Ah.. uh... excuse me, I was just spacing out", Shiraishi replied and hastily turned her eyes to the drawings in front of her.

At around 6 p.m., Shiraishi was still looking at her screen. She made some designs but she thought it looked horrible. Her colleagues were already getting ready to go home, leaving her the only one in the office. Shiraishi stared at the empty desks around her. The hope of Matsumura returning to the office today was gone as well.   
  
"This is great. This is just great", Shiraishi thought to herself, "my first day and I already need to work overtime if I want to show Matsumura something decent tomorrow..."

Her stomach started to make noise, and she realized she hadn't eaten since breakfast. She walked to the kitchen to see if she could find some food. There she discovered she wasn't the only one that stayed late. A young woman stood at the kitchen counter, seemingly concentrated on whatever she was doing. Shiraishi let out a small cough to make sure she didn't startle her. The woman turned around. She had a tired, but friendly look on her face and smiled once she noticed Shiraishi. 

"Oh, hi! You are the new girl, right? My name is Higuchi Hina. Nice to meet you!", her colleague said enthusiastically. 

"Finally, someone that isn't irritated by my presence", Shiraishi thought. "Yes, I am. My name's Shiraishi Mai. Nice to meet you to. Is it okay if I grab something to eat? It has been a rough first day and..." 

"Of course", Higuchi interrupted, "I just made some sandwiches, do you want one?" 

"If that's okay..." 

"Sure, here you go", Higuchi said while handing over a delicious looking sandwich filled with lettuce and cheese.

It was the best sandwich Shiraishi ate in a long time. She didn't know if it was the actual taste or just the fact that someone was finally being nice to her, but it didn't matter. It gave her the energy boost she needed.

"Listen", Higuchi said while the two of them walked back to their desks, "don't take Miss Matsumura the wrong way. I know she can come across very strict and demanding. But behind that demeanor lies a very sweet girl. She is just testing you." 

Those words calmed Shiraishi down. "What about Yoshida?", Shiraishi asked but she saw Higuchi turn away her eyes after the question. 

"Oh my, is it this late already... better get to work!"

She obviously dodged the question but in doing so, Shiraishi knew enough.

The next morning, Shiraishi knocked on the door to the meeting room. "Come in", she heard the voice of Matsumura say at the other side of the door. Shiraishi entered the room. 

"I came to show you my proposals."

✧ To be continued ✧

 


	2. Reverie

The first slide of Shiraishi's presentation appeared on the screen. She looked at it and gulped. Although she worked until midnight, she wasn't satisfied with the designs she came up with. It kept her awake, even if she knew that wouldn't help her at all.

She looked at Matsumura, who sat behind a small table on the other end of the room. Like yesterday, she had her hair in a bun, which made her strong out eyes come out even more. Her perfume sent out a subtle jasmine fragrance. Shiraishi averted her eyes and looked down, to Matsumura's dark blue blouse, her flower patterned skirt and her high heeled boots. Matsumura sure knew how to dress, which didn't help Shiraishi's heartbeat to calm down.

"Explain, please. And don't just show good designs, but elaborate on the philosophy behind it", Matsumura said impatiently, waking Shiraishi from her trance.

"Erm, okay, I'll start with this", Shiraishi answered and nervously went through her presentation.

"So this is what I came up with so far", Shiraishi concluded after 6 minutes. Throughout these minutes, Matsumura just stared, not showing any emotion, and even now that she finished the presentation, there was no immediate reaction. Matsumura stood up and walked slowly towards Shiraishi.

"This is what you have come up with?", she asked Shiraishi calmly.

"Y-yes, it is. What do you think of it?"

Matsumura sighed. "This is very disappointing, Shiraishi. Your work doesn't match the requirements of our client at all. Surely, a girl with your talent can do better? That is what I expect at least."

Shiraishi was on the verge of tears. She couldn't believe the words Matsumura just uttered. But then she remembered the words of Higuchi, "she is just testing you".

"Be it as it may, you don't have to be so mean about it", Shiraishi reacted.

"Mean?" Matsumura started laughing.

Matsumura's laugh made Shiraishi snap. "Enough!", she said vehemently. "You threw me behind a desk, handed me a file and ran off! Have you actually checked the contents of what you have given me! The assignment details are only one paragraph! And then you were gone all day without notice, with no means to contact you! And no one else can or will answer my questions! Just how am I supposed to create something that fits the clients' needs when you don't even know how to properly train me!"

Shiraishi then noticed the astonished look on Matsumura's face, and realized she just raged against her senior and calmed down.

"I guess I am fired, right? I apologize for being a nuisance", Shiraishi said with a little voice and walked towards the door.

"Wait! Don't you walk away from me!"

Shiraishi halted and slowly turned around. Matsumura once again walked towards her. "Not once in my life have I experienced such rudeness."

"I'm so sorry", Shiraishi again apologized and made a deep bow.

"But, you are not entirely wrong", Matsumura continued. "Besides, I like your attitude. This company could use someone that is not afraid to speak her mind."

Shiraishi slowly recovered from her bow, surprised and still trying to comprehend what she just heard. "But I... I went too far", she reacted.

"Listen. There is this big deadline for New World Inc. coming up. You know, the thing everyone is working very hard at right now? I also had a meeting with them yesterday to discuss the progress, which ran extremely long. That's why I didn't had the chance to guide you properly. For that I apologize."

Was this the same Matsumura as one minute ago? "Miss Higuchi may be right after all. Matsumura can actually be reasonable", Shiraishi thought to herself.

"I'll give you a few days extra to work on your assignment. Throw away all you have done, honestly, it's crap. And I will be very very busy, so I still can't give you the attention you might need. But you can find more information about Bemars Corp. on our server. We worked for them before. You can ask Nishino Nanase, she knows were to find the files. Design something decent this time." Matsumura looked at her watch. "Damn, this took too long", she said and walked out of the meeting room, leaving Shiraishi who was still shaking.

Shiraishi couldn't hold her tears any longer. Since she was the only one in the room, she decided to let it out. The fear, the anger, the relief.

✧✧✧

Day of the deadline. It was three days after the argument between Shiraishi and Matsumura, and although Shiraishi planned to work on her assignment, she was actually involved in the assignment for New World Inc. Although her involvement consisted solely of checking all the content for typing and spelling errors without any creative input, she was happy they asked her. It made her felt she was part of the team for the first time, and even corrected two typos. At twelve o'clock, all the necessary files where uploaded, as intended. The deadline was met.

"You all did an amazing job!", Shitara said to his employees. "Tonight we party, my treat. You deserve it!" The team rejoiced.

That evening, Shiraishi sat next to Higuchi at a large table which was filled with drinks, skewers of meat and other snacks. Although she knew her only a few days, Higuchi was the only one that occasionally came by her desk for a bit of small talk, so she felt comfortable next to her. She looked around, and noticed that Yoshida was absent.

"Where is Miss Yoshida?", she asked Higuchi, "she is late."  
"She doesn't come", Higuchi answered, "she never does. Not since she had a big fight with Matsumura a while ago during a similar party."

"A fight?"

"Well, you see, Miss Yoshida has always been jealous of Miss Matsumura, or rather of her position within the company. Miss Matsumura slowly grew to be the right-hand woman of Mister Shitara, a position Miss Yoshida always aimed for and even thinks belongs to her, because she works for him a bit longer. So, that day, they both had a couple of beers too many and Miss Yoshida started to vent her frustration about the situation. Well, it won't surprise you that Miss Matsumura didn't accept that and fully opposed her. Luckily, we could keep them apart, because they were about to punch each other in the face. But, please, you didn't hear this from me. We try not to talk about this incident. Anyway, that's the reason she isn't here."

Shiraishi nodded and looked at Matsumura, who was having a pleasant conversation with Shitara by the looks of it. It was the first time she saw her smile and it captivated her. It was a beautiful smile. It invoked a sudden feeling of admiration. She wanted to look like her. She wanted to be like her.

"You already spoke with Miss Nishino, right? I saw you two working on something together the other day", Higuchi said, breaking Shiraishi out of her reverie.

"Hmm, yes, that's right. She seems really kind, but she was very nervous because of the deadline so I didn't bother her too much."

"I see. You sensed that well. Next to her is Miss Sakurai, our secretary. But she does more than only pick up the phone. In fact, she does everything. From welcoming our clients and making sure they get a nice cup of coffee to washing the used towels at home and bring them back clean", Higuchi continued to introduce the rest of the colleagues. "Next to her is Miss Takayama. She has a more technical background and develops websites. She is fun. And just watch, the more beers she has, the funnier she becomes."

"Excuse, can we have more beer and meat?", Shitara shouted through the izayaka. Shiraishi smiled. The past couple of days had been very stressful, but at that moment, she felt none of that.

✧✧✧

The next morning, everyone sat silently behind their desks. There might have been a hangover or two, but it didn't prevent the team to continue their business, albeit at a somewhat more relaxed pace than the previous days.

Shiraishi didn't notice the man stepping into the office at first, but once she heard her colleagues make sounds of surprise, she looked to the door. There stood a tall, handsome man, neatly dressed and with a charismatic expression on his face. He was the owner of New World Inc.

"Mister Sato! How rare of you to be here! Can I help you?", Sakurai asked as she walked hastily towards the man.

Shitara, also surprised by the sudden visit, approached the man as well. "Mister Sato, welcome. I apologize, we didn't know you would come by today."

"Sorry for my sudden visit, Mister Shitara, but I would like to have a talk with you. In private."

"Sure, of course. Is everything all right, Mister Sato?"

"No, I am afraid it's not."

✧ To be continued ✧

 


	3. Dissonance

"Here you go, Mister Sato", Sakurai said as she put a cup of coffee in front of him. The aroma of the coffee quickly spread through the meeting room. Many clients praised Sakurai's coffee, and it was even rumored that clients like to stop by just for a Sakurai Roast. 

However, this was not the reason Sato made a visit. As soon as Sakurai left the room, Shitara looked at the man who owned one of the bigger companies in Japan.

"Mister Sato, could you tell me what is wrong? Are you not satisfied with the progress we made recently?"

"That is indeed the case, Mister Shitara. The thing is, when you gave your pitch, I was blown away by the freshness of your design proposals. They were different, they were progressive, and they were expressive. Three properties I'd like to attribute to my company as well. They were made by your employee, Miss Yoshida Ayano Christie. Her explanation of the philosophy behind her designs actually made sense. The other agencies that pitched, well, their stories were slick sounding nonsense. But what Miss Yoshida said back then, as nervous as she was, clicked with me."

Shitara nodded, waiting for the 'but'.

"During the early stages of the project, her concepts stood out as well", Sato continued. "As I pointed out back then, she understood what I wanted. But the designs we received yesterday reflected little of that."

Shitara was a bit shocked by Sato's last sentence. "That surprises me, to be honest. Although most of my employees are involved in your project, Miss Yoshida still is the main designer."

"Don't take this the wrong way, Mister Shitara, but I think she is being influenced by Miss Matsumura. And not in a good way. Once the project took off, she was entrusted with supervising the whole thing. And she knows how to do that, but as time progressed, I got the impression she meddled with the design process more and more. Something I also addressed on our latest meetings. But yesterday I realized that little was done to change that. I came by today to propose a solution to this problem. To put it bluntly, I want you to take Miss Matsumura off the project. I want it to be supervised by Miss Yoshida."

Shitara shook his head in disbelief. "W-wait, that is a very... unusual request. I can't just push Miss Matsumura aside. I mean, a project of this magnitude needs the supervision of someone experienced. Miss Yoshida is a designer, a very good one. But she has zero experience guiding a project, not even a small one."

"Well, you are a creative agency, aren't you? I am sure you will figure out a way to make it work. I want Miss Yoshida to protect and guide the core principles of this project. If that is not possible, I am afraid I have to end our business together."

Shitara needed some time to let those words sink. He thought the request was very unreasonable, but he realized he may lose his biggest client if he didn't approve it.

"I'll see what I can do", Shitara said after some thinking. "I will have to talk to the girls first, and think of a way to make this work. I want to see this project to succeed as much as you do, Mister Sato. Is it all right if I answer you tomorrow?"

Sato nodded. "That'll be fine. I wish you a good day", he said as he stood up and walked out of the meeting room.

Shitara, still perplexed, repeated the conversation they just had in his head. He knew this is going to be troublesome. Especially telling Matsumura. He could already predict the riot. But there was no other option if he wanted to continue the project. "All right, let's get this over with", he thought and opened the door.

"Matsumura, Yoshida, could you come in for a moment?"

✧✧✧

"What?!" 

Matsumura furiously slammed her fist on the table upon hearing the news. It made the spoon clink with the empty cup that was still on the table. 

"This is unacceptable! If you are really going to give my function to her, I quit!"

"Please calm down", Shitara said to her. Knowing Matsumura's temper, he expected she was going to say that. 

"No, I am not,  _not_  calming down. How dare you even consider this? Taking me off the project is one thing, but you are going to let this woman do my work? The audacity! She won't last a single fucking day!"

Yoshida didn't say anything, but just looked quietly at the table. The other two didn't notice the little smile on her face. 

"Matsumura, it is happening. Think of it what you want. But this is not a discussion", Shitara replied calmly but clearly. 

"You're making a big mistake!", Matsumura yelled as she walked away and slammed the door.

"She'll be back", Shitara said after a some very silent seconds. He didn't know if he believed his own words. 

"Are you sure this is a good idea?", Yoshida asked shyly. "I'm not sure if I know how to..."

"Don't worry. Things will mostly stay the same. You'll only have to visit New World Inc. every now and then to discuss the project. Mister Sato is very fond of you, so you'll be fine!"

Although she didn't show it, she was overjoyed. She didn't know if it was because she finally got the position she desired for so long, or because she just witnessed Matsumura losing it. It was probably both.

✧✧✧

A faint light lit the desk of Shiraishi. It was dark outside, and because her colleagues already called it a day, most office lights were already turned off. Shiraishi liked it that way. In the evening, her inspiration often reached new heights. Her best ideas were born in this dim-lit office, when everything was quiet and peaceful. But not tonight. She could still feel the tension in the air. Mister Sato's sudden visit, Matsumura leaving the office with quite a fuss... Although neither Shitara or Yoshida informed the rest, it was clear something was amiss. 

Since she was getting hungry anyway, Shiraishi decided to leave as well. She turned off the light on her desk, but then noticed a soft, peculiar sound coming from the meeting room. When she opened the door, she could instantly recognize the silhouette of Matsumura, even though it was dark. The sound turned out to be a faint sobbing. 

"Miss Matsumura?", Shiraishi asked while she turned on the light. She was confused, because she hadn't noticed Matsumura coming back, but that feeling turned quickly into worry when Matsumura looked up.

Her eyes red. Her face wet of tears. 

"Shiraishi... I am a failure... right?"

✧ To be continued ✧


	4. Solace

Shiraishi didn't hesitate and hurried to Matsumura, jumped in the chair next to her and puts her arm around her. 

"No! No no no. Of course you are not a failure", she said to the crying woman next to her. "You are not a failure." 

"But I am. Otherwise they wouldn't have kicked me off the project..."

That sentence made things click for Shiraishi. She understood that all the commotion of today led to the removal of Matsumura from the New World Inc. project, but she refused to believe it was due to incompetence. But Matsumura seemed to believe so. Shiraishi thought about how she could take that idea away. She was still holding her arm around Matsumura. She actually wanted to give her a big hug and dry her tears and tell her everything will be fine, but she chose not to force things.

"Listen to me, I don't know what happened today. If you want to, you can tell me. If you don't want to, that's also fine. But I think you are the opposite of a failure."

"You don't know anything!", Matsumura yelled angrily and she removed Shiraishi's hand from her shoulder. 

Shiraishi realized that was the truth. She could admire her all she wanted, but the fact was that two weeks ago, they didn't knew each other at all.

"I'm sorry... you are right. I don't know anything", Shiraishi answered calmly. "But, will you tell me? So that I do know, and I can tell you properly you are not a failure?"

Matsumura looked at her, a little flash of surprise in her eyes. She was not used to this kind of reaction. Whenever she was angry, people either fought with her or were intimidated by her. But Shiraishi wanted to understand her, and that was a first. 

"You see, I worked so hard for my current position", Matsumura said while calming down. "I started here three years ago as a designer. Just like you. But shortly after I started, we received a lot of work and Mister Shitara lost oversight. So I helped him with the planning, prioritizing the projects, and dividing the tasks among the team. And I never stopped to do that. But now he tossed me aside like it's nothing!"

Matsumura started whimpering again. Shiraishi put her right arm back around Matsumura and removed some of her hair that sticked to her wet face with her left. 

"I guess my father was right after all. I thought I proved I could take care of myself, even when I chose not to become a lawyer like him. To become a woman who can live a life with success and happiness. But here I am... a failure, just like he predicted I would be. All I have worked for... it means nothing."

"Say, Miss Matsumura, are you having fun?", Shiraishi asked her, trying a different approach. 

"Hmm? I love my job, if that's what you mean."

"No, I mean, besides that. Do you have a hobby? Do you watch movies? Listen to music? Go on dates? Eat until you drop?"

"I have no time for hobbies or movies. I am not dating material. And..."

"Then let's eat until we drop!", Shiraishi interrupted her enthusiastically. "I'll date you tonight and we are going to have fun. And I don't take no for an answer. We can worry about our jobs again tomorrow."

Before Matsumura could react properly, Shiraishi grabbed her hand and guided her outside of the meeting room. 

"Grab your coat!", she said with a big smile. 

Matsumura realized she had little choice and decided to do as Shiraishi told. That actually surprised Shiraishi. She was never good at convincing others, let alone take the lead. 

"Wait, did I just call it a date?", she stopped and realized for a moment. 

Whatever. She would have done anything to make Matsumura feel better. Anything.

✧✧✧

The Tokyo night sky. Shiraishi knew the perfect place to admire it. She and Matsumura sat down on a little bench beneath a few trees on the edge of a small park. A place Shiraishi sometimes went to, to get away from life for a moment, or to actually appreciate its beauty. 

The evening time had flown by. They ate lots of meat in a nice yakiniku restaurant, and after that they bought a few beers from the convenience store and drank them while doing random silly stuff. They emptied a toy vending machine and gave the contents away to passersby. They did a swing contest on a playground. They jumped through a little mall, evading the black tiles, pretending they were lava. 

It wasn't cloudy at all, and both were looking at the abundance of stars. "Look, there is Venus", Matsumura said, pointing to the sky.

"Venus? Where?"

"Over there. That dot that looks like a very bright star."

"So that's Venus? It's so beautiful."

Shiraishi suddenly felt the hand of Matsumura gently on top of hers. Before she knew it, she answered by laying her head on Matsumura's shoulder, which she didn't seem to mind.

"Thank you", Matsumura said quietly, "I had fun tonight. I really did."

Shiraishi just smiled. Hearing her happiness and feeling her warmth was bliss. And the stars weren't nearly as beautiful as the little clouds of her breath. 

Earlier, she wanted to be like her. Right now, she just wanted her. 

But a sudden thought hit Shiraishi. "My train!"

Shiraishi suddenly sat up and looked to Matsumura with big eyes. "I need to catch it, or I won't make it home tonight!"

"Eh...? Okay, sure, when does it leave?", Matsumura reacted a bit startled.

"In about ten minutes!"

"We better hurry then!"

The two of them ran to the station, and waved each other goodbye as Shiraishi dashed through the gates, ran up the stairs and jumped into the train. Six seconds later, the doors closed.

Once Shiraishi regained her breath, she realized the chaotic ending of their evening together. "Damn it", she thought and got mad at herself. There was no one waiting for her at home. There are enough places to sleep in Tokyo. There was absolutely no need to end things this abruptly. 

"We'll do this again soon", she promised herself. "And when we do, I'll confess to you."

✧ To be continued ✧


	5. Algorithm

"Good morning. I am Yoshida Ayano Christie. I have an appointment with Mister Sato."

Yoshida stood at the reception desk in a very big hall. She had been to New World Inc. once to pitch a proposal with Shitara, but once the project took off, Matsumura was the one that continued the occasional visits to this company. She looked at the woman behind the reception desk, who hanged up the phone.

"Please wait over there, Miss Yoshida. Someone will come to bring you to your appointment."

She walked to the corner that had a couple of luxurious chairs, picked the one in the middle and took a seat. She was nervous. Very nervous. This could be a deciding moment for her future career. Although she yearned for this function for long, starting with this important project didn't bring out her confidence. After a couple of minutes, she saw a woman approaching her. 

"Miss Yoshida? Excuse me for keeping you waiting. I'll guide you to your appointment."

Yoshida followed the woman as the walked through what seemed like a maze of halls and corridors. "This company is really big", she thought. The woman stopped at a computer terminal that was embedded in the wall, and pressed a couple of buttons. After that, the machine ejected some sort of pass. 

"Please take this with you", the woman said. "It will grant you access to this section of the company. It is strictly off limits, so keep it with you at all times. You might have to show it every now and then. When you leave this section, you will be asked to return it."

"Uh...sure", Yoshida answered, surprised by the security measures. She didn't remember receiving a pass during her previous visit. Apparently, lots have changed in the past half year. 

The woman stopped by a door and pressed a button. "Yes?", said a woman's voice through the intercom. 

"Miss Yoshida is here for the appointment."

"Ah, terrific!"

A buzz echoed through the corridor and the door opened. "Please come in!", the woman in the room said as she stood up from her chair and walked towards Yoshida.

"Excuse me", Yoshida said, "but I think there is a misunderstanding. I am having an appointment with Mister Sato. I am from..."

"I know", the woman interrupted her. "I am sorry. We didn't tell you before, but you're having an appointment with me and it won't be about the design project."

"W..what?"

"First things first. Let me introduce myself. I am Sato Kaede."

"Oh... You're the daughter of Mister Sato? I think he told me about you one time."

"Yes, that is true. And I am the one responsible for the research and development department of New World Inc. Right now, you are in a heavily secured wing of the building, because of some very secret projects. What we are going to talk about in a minute must stay within these walls. Please sign this document."

Yoshida, overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events, tried to make sense of it. She looked at the datapad that Sato handed over, and saw something that looked like a confidentiality agreement. She looked over the document quickly and signed it with her finger.

"Thank you very much! Fancy some green tea? We have the best!"

"Please tell me why I am here?", said Yoshida who became a bit impatient. 

"We need your help on a research project. A project that, when completed, will change society as we know it. I know that sounds exorbitant, but unfortunately I can't say too much about it. But please have a look at this."

Sato once again gave her the datapad, on which another file was opened.   
The first page said "MATSUMURA SAYURI". 

"You know Miss Matsumura, right?", Sato Asked.

Yoshida put the tablet angrily on the desk. "Yes, I do. If this is about her, I don't want anything to do with it."

"Please bear with me. Look at the file. As you can see, it has many pages. It is a very thorough profile of Miss Matsumura, mostly compiled with information we secretly scanned on her visits. Our profiling algorithms are unparalleled."

Yoshida grabbed the datapad again and started to browse the file. What Sato just said wasn't a lie, the profile was very extensive, with lots of details that seemed correct at first glance.

"We have made many profiles like this. Not only to perfect our algorithms, but also to find suitable candidates for our other inventions. And Miss Matsumura is the perfect candidate for the aforementioned project."

"Then why am I here? Just invite her if you want her so badly!", Yoshida said annoyed. 

"That won't work. You'll have to know that what we plan to do with Miss Matsumura isn't exactly... legal. And she certainly wouldn't agree to cooperate. That's why we need someone on the 'inside', so to speak, to kickstart things. And that someone is you."

"I am sorry, but I have to refuse. I don't want to be involved with illegal things."

"Think hard, Miss Yoshida. Walking away from this might reflect badly on the design project you are doing with my father."

"What? Are you blackmailing me now? Are you that desperate?"

"Hmm... let me put it this way then. With Miss Matsumura participating in this research project, she won't be able to work for your design agency any longer. Guess who is the person most likely to take her place?"

The room went silent, as Yoshida started to think about what she just said. Sato was right. If Matsumura was no longer around, there was no doubt that Shitara would ask her to be the company's supervisor. And it wouldn't stop once this project was finished. 

"What do you need me to do?"

Sato walked to a little cabinet and opened one of the drawers. Out of it, she took a little plastic bag and put it on the desk in front of Yoshida. Inside the bag was a light grayish coat button. 

"This is a replica of a button from Miss Matsumura's coat", Sato started to explain. "But it has a tracker inside. Your job is to make sure this button ends up on Miss Matsumura's coat. That way, as long as she wears the coat, and she will because it's cold, we will know where she is."

"That is all?"

"Don't underestimate it. It could be difficult enough. Once the button is in place, let us know." Sato grabbed a smartphone from another drawer and put it next to the button. "Use this phone. Call the number in the contact list, there is only one."

Yoshida grabbed the button and the phone. "I'll take care of it."

✧✧✧

"Mister Shitara, is it okay if I go home early today? There isn't much to do today." Matsumura stood at the desk of her boss, not hiding her feelings of boredom. With the New World Inc. project no longer a responsibility for Matsumura, she had little work at the moment. During her evening out with Shiraishi, she realized her life was too serious, and lacked fun. Today, she wanted to go home early, and cook herself a delicious meal. She couldn't remember the last time she did that, it must have been years ago. But she looked forward to doing it.

"Yeah, sure, no problem. See you tomorrow."

Matsumura walked to the hallstand and grabbed her coat when she noticed the button on the floor. "Is that mine?" She picked it up and looked at her coat. The third button from below wasn't there. 

"Damn it", Matsumura hissed. "I'll fix it when I get home."

✧ To be continued ✧


	6. Veil

"Really? You made this for me?" 

Matsumura looked at the opened bento before her. It was filled with rice, fried chicken, tomatoes, salmon, carrots and lots of other food. The tomatoes and carrots were neatly arranged into smileys. 

Shiraishi nodded. "I wanted to make up for last week, when I had to go so suddenly while we were watching the night sky. I feel really bad about that."

"You shouldn't! It was because of your last train, right? And we had fun, didn't we?", Matsumura said, trying to ease Shiraishi's feelings.

"I am glad you think so... actually... I wanted to ask you to... do you have plans tomorrow after work?", Shiraishi asked with a shaky voice.

"I have a day off tomorrow, so I can do whatever I want. Why?", Matsumura asked with a teasing smile, already suspecting what the next question was going to be.

"Maybe... we can go out again?"

"I'd love to", Matsumura said and smiled. "Let's meet at Yoyogi Fukamachi around 6?"

"Eh... yeah, sure! Thanks!"

Shiraishi was a bit surprised by how easy that went. She could hardly sleep the night before, she replayed asking the question many times in her head, with many different outcomes. Matsumura behaved like her usual serious self around the office the last couple of days, so Shiraishi was afraid there was no need for distraction for Matsumura. Or rather, she was afraid Matsumura wouldn't need her anymore. 

As Shiraishi walked back to her desk in a happy trance, Yoshida left her desk and sneaked into the small lobby of the office. She looked over her shoulder to make sure no one came after her, and checked Matsumura's coat. The third button from below was neatly sowed on. 

She then left the office and took the elevator to the roof. Once there, she took the phone Miss Sato gave her, opened the contact list and saw a contact named LAZARUS. She hesitated for a moment, but eventually pressed the dial button.

"Yes?", she heard a woman's voice say. She didn't recognize it, but she was sure this wasn't Miss Sato. It sounded far too sinister, whereas Miss Sato's voice was one of the more happy voices she ever heard. 

"Uh, hello, this is Yoshida. Uh... I... the tracker is placed..." 

"Very well. Then your part is done. Thank you very much for your cooperation", the voice said, after which the connection was interrupted. 

"What are you doing here?", a voice said behind her. Yoshida startled and turned around. It was Nishino. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you", Nishino said and smiled. 

"It's not your fault. I had to make a phone call. My mother... she is ill so I told her I will visit her after work and take care of her", she lied with a straight face. 

Nishino Nanase. You could tell her the most absurd and blatant lie, but she'll believe it. 

✧✧✧

"Miss Matsumura?! I am so sorry for being late! It was really busy today! But I am leaving the office now, I'll be there in 10 minutes!" 

It was already 6 o'clock, and although Yoyogi Fukamachi was a 10 minute walk from the office, she hated the idea of keeping people waiting. Especially during this time of the year when it's already dark and cold. Especially when it is Matsumura.

"That's fine, don't rush it, okay? I just arrived myself."

Matsumura quickly put her phone in her purse and put her gloved hands inside the pockets of her coat. She saw her breath making little clouds in the faint light coming from the lamp she was waiting under, even though she had a scarf covering her mouth. 

"Hey, you!"

Matsumura turned around and saw a man rapidly approaching her. She didn't recognize him, his face was covered by a scarf and hood. She stepped back, but the man was quicker and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Your money! Give me your money!", he yelled as he grabbed a knife from his pocket. "And don't try anything funny!" Matsumura looked in fear at the shining blade. "Hurry!", the man said. Matsumura looked around quickly, but she saw no one. She was alone. 

"Please don't hurt me, I'll give you money", she said and searched her purse in panic.   
"Here, here it is. My money. Please take it. Don't hurt me.", Matsumura cried as she gave her wallet to the robber. 

He opened it, and took the two 1000 yen bills that were inside it. "Is that all? Give me more!", he yelled.

"I don't have any more. Really, this is all I have. You can have my purse, it's..."

Suddenly, she felt an intense heat flaring up from her abdomen. Looking down, she saw the hand of the man holding a blood stained blade. Upon realizing what just happened, her vision blurred and the world started spinning. She could hardly hear the footsteps of her attacker running away. Putting her hand on the wound, she stumbled towards she thought was the street, hoping someone would pass by and notice her, but she collapsed near the fountain.

"Matsumura? Miss Matsumura!?" 

Shiraishi approached the woman on the ground carefully, but started to run like never before once she realized her eyes weren't deceiving her. 

"Oh God, what...", Shiraishi uttered, quickly removed her scarf and pressed it against the wound. "Help me press this, okay? We need to stop the bleeding." She tried to hide her panic from Matsumura."You're going to be fine. It's not that bad, you'll be alright."

Shiraishi saw a woman walking by at a distance. "Help! Please! Help!", she shouted as loud as possible. Luckily the woman heard her and came. "Please, call an ambulance. My friend, she's hurt." 

The woman didn't think twice, grabbed her phone and made the call.

"It's... no use...", Matsumura said softly. "It... it hurts."

"I know sweetheart. But help is on the way. Hang on just a little bit longer, okay?", Shiraishi said while softly caressing Matsumura's hair.

"I'm... sorry." Matsumura coughed and sobbed. Shiraishi looked at the scarf she was pressing the wound with. Once white, it was now dark red. Sirens were wailing in the distance.

"Don't say you're sorry. Listen to me. Remember what fun we had last week? I want to do that again. So don't you dare leave me." Shiraishi teared up. "Don't you dare, okay? I want to have fun with you. We were just getting started. I want to have fun with you for the rest of our lives. Don't you dare leave me, so I can properly confess to you."

Matsumura slowly raised her right hand, and touched Shiraishi's cheek.

"I'm... sorry... Maiyan..."

That moment, an ambulance and two police cars arrived, and stopped next to the fountain. From then on, Shiraishi experienced all that happened as in a daze. The ambulance workers pulling her away, saying something to her she couldn't comprehend and loading Matsumura into the ambulance. The policeman guiding Shiraishi to one of the cars, and driving her to the hospital, following the ambulance.  And the nurse at the hospital, that ended the daze with a single sentence.

"I am sorry, but despite our efforts, Miss Matsumura died."

✧ To be continued ✧

 


	7. Daze

_Pin-pon._

"Go away!", Shiraishi yelled annoyed at the ringing doorbell. The last thing she needed was human contact. She felt awful. There were just too many things going on in her head, trying to comprehend the last two weeks of her life. She felt detached ever since she had to call Matsumura's older sister Kyoko, to inform her of the terrible news. At first, she just wanted to tell her to come to the hospital because something bad happened, but her sister wanted to know more while on the phone, so Shiraishi had to be honest. It was terrible.

The funeral was terrible as well. Shiraishi hoped for a proper goodbye, and to see Matsumura's face for the last time, but to her dismay, someone had decided it had to be a closed casket funeral. A reason was not given. Besides that, Matsumura's parents didn't show up. Although she told her relation with her father wasn't the best, Shiraishi didn't know Matsumura cut all ties with her parents. But even though Kyoko had informed her parents about her younger daughter's ill fate, they weren't there. Luckily, all the coworkers from Nogizaka Design Agency came to say goodbye. 

Shiraishi was questioned a couple of times by the police as well, but she couldn't tell anything about what happened before the fatal stabbing, other than the phone call they had ten minutes prior. And what happened afterwards was too horrible to relive. Because of the purse and the empty wallet that were found a couple of meters away from the crime scene, it was classified as a robbery. Unfortunately, no fingerprints were found on both items and with a lack of proper evidence, the investigation was quickly halted.

_Pin-pon._

"God, what the...", Shiraishi said, swearing inside at the persistent person at the door. She tried to stand up, but fell two times before she actually managed to do so. Slowly she walked to the door, and opened it just enough to peek through it. It was Higuchi.

"Miss Shiraishi?" 

"Why you here?", Shiraishi slurred. 

"Oh dear... ", Higuchi said surprised, looking inside. "Are you dressed?"

Shiraishi hardly was, wearing only her underwear and a stained t-shirt.   
"Why should I?"  
Higuchi's expression went from worry to disgust once she smelled the alcohol breath of her colleague.   
"Oh dear... this ends now!", Higuchi said, pushed the door open and stepped inside.  
"Hey now... leave me alone. Barging in like this... it's rude."

Higuchi didn't pay attention to what she said, as she was distracted by the many empty bottles, the foul smell, and the total mess that was once probably a neat apartment.

"Look at yourself! What are you doing?"

Shiraishi didn't really know what to say, so she just stared at her.

"You are going to take a shower! Right now!", Higuchi said in a demanding tone while she walked to the kitchen and opened the cupboards one by one until she found a trash bag. 

"Wait, what are you doing?! Get out of my h..."

"Shower. Now!"

Higuchi never looked this serious and Shiraishi was surely intimidated by her outburst. To do as she said was probably the best thing to do. But once the water hit her face, Shiraishi actually felt some relief. No one would notice her crying here, the shower took her tears immediately to the drain. She could stay here for hours, if it wasn't for Higuchi, who came to check on her. The bathroom door slowly opened.

"Miss Shiraishi, sorry for entering. I've come to bring you a towel."

Shiraishi heard the door close again. The shower did clear her head a bit, and she realized Higuchi wouldn't leave as long as she was in this state. She turned of the shower, grabbed the towel and started to dry herself. Next to where the towel was, there was also a new set of clothes. She dressed slowly, but once she heard the loud clinking coming from the living room, she hurried to check what was going on. In the middle of the room was the trash bag, filled with empty bottles that only moments ago decorated the floor. Higuchi was in the kitchen, pouring the contents of other bottles down the sink.

"No! What are you doing!?", Shiraishi yelled and tried to save the bottles that were not emptied yet. 

"You want to become an alcoholic? Wait, you already became one! And I am not having it! Not showing up to the office without notice and leaving everyone worried is one thing, but this is not the proper way to deal with misfortune! I am ending this."

"I need this!", Shiraishi yelled, grabbed an half-emptied bottle of wine and took a gulp. 

"And I don't think you do."

"That's because you don't understand! You don't understand any  _fuck_ of it!"

Then she broke down. She smashed the bottle into a corner, fell to her knees and started weeping.

"I loved her. I loved her so fucking much. You can't possibly understand... how much. She's gone, Higuchi. Gone. She is taken away... explain to me, how can I possibly deal with this any other way? Please, Higuchi, what can I do? When the only thing I can think about is to drink myself to death so I can be with her. I beg you, please tell me what to do..."

Higuchi crouched and hugged Shiraishi tightly, whose cries were beyond anything she had ever heard before. 

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. I don't know...

...But from now on, you are not alone. I will get you through this. We'll fight this together, okay? One day, life will become a little better again. I promise."

After about ten minutes, Shiraishi's cries turned into a faint sobbing. Higuchi grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. 

"Hey, why don't you take a little nap? You didn't sleep much, did you? I'll stay here. I'll make us something to eat."

✧✧✧

"So we meet again", Miss Sato said to Yoshida, who was unexpectedly summoned for another visit. They were sitting in a small cafeteria inside the heavily guarded wing of New World Inc. which was empty except the two of them. Yoshida was slowly sipping her tea in anticipation. 

"Thanks for coming, Miss Yoshida. I wanted to commend you. You did a great job placing the tracker. No one noticed, and it worked flawlessly", Sato said with a big smile.

"That would be good news if Matsumura was still alive", Yoshida answered grouchy. "Since you knew everything about her, I guess you are up to date about what happened to her as well? Anyway, no need for smiles, it was all for nothing."

"For nothing?"

"Of course. You can't get intel from a dead person, can you? And I am not setting up another tracker again."

Sato laughed. "No, Miss Yoshida. That won't be necessary. You are a bit slow today aren't you? It is all going according to plan."

Yoshida looked at Sato with a puzzled face.

"Don't you understand?  _We_ killed her. And we were able to kill her because of the tracker you placed."

✧ To be continued ✧


	8. Apex

It was an early Sunday morning and the rays of the summer sun gently lit the bedroom. Shiraishi had her eyes closed, her legs still intertwined with those of the woman she made love with the night before. She knew she was awake, because she felt her nails move softly over her back. A great feeling, she wished it would never stop. 

But a sudden thought ended her bliss.

"Say, Hinachi... am I a bad person?", she asked softly.

"No, you aren't. What makes you think so?", Higuchi answered without hesitation.

"...I enjoy being with you, and I feel guilty about it."

It was not a feeling she had for the first time, but she never wanted to bring it up earlier. Shiraishi opened her eyes and looked directly into Higuchi's. She didn't seem surprised by the question.

"You think being with me is as if you are betraying Miss Matsumura, don't you?"

Spot-on. Higuchi had the talent to look directly into Shiraishi's mind. She probably already knew that this was bothering Shiraishi, but as always she knew that it was best to let her bring up the topic herself. 

"Listen Mai. You absolutely don't have to feel guilty. I am sure that is what she would tell you as well if that was possible. She would want you to be happy, don't you think? And she'd hate it if you didn't move on with your life. Besides that, Miss Matsumura will always be your number one, and..."

"No! That's not true! I am with you now!"

"Mai, listen. I know it's true, even though I know you will never admit it. And that's fine. I am perfectly aware that I will never,  _never_ replace Miss Matsumura. I will never replace what she means to you, and I will never be able to capture your heart the way she did. I accepted that the moment we got together. But I will do everything in my power to become your number two. That will make me the happiest girl on the planet."

"Hinachi..."

Shiraishi almost teared up. It was hard to believe how patient and understanding Higuchi was. That she was still around. That she was the one lying next to her. That she would settle for being second best. She couldn't think of any reason why one would want that. It was beyond comprehension.

Especially because Shiraishi was well aware that she was not the easiest person to be around for the last couple of months. She often wondered why Higuchi didn't run away on day one. In hindsight, that was one of the easier days. Trying to cope with the loss of Matsumura, Shiraishi went through hell, and Higuchi more than once suffered the consequences of that. In her bleakest moments, Shiraishi said the worst things to her, even locked her out of the house a few times in rage. But Higuchi would just wait outside until Shiraishi calmed down and opened the door again. And afterwards, Shiraishi would only feel guilt, because she realized Higuchi deserved none of it. It was a terrible vicious circle.

Despite all that, Shiraishi slowly regained the will to live, and with it, the ability to fall in love again. Although there was the occasional relapse and their fights were sometimes intense, Higuchi kept her promise, and didn't leave Shiraishi's side. And after every moment of hardship, the two of them became a bit closer.

"...I love you."

Shiraishi rose up and swung her right leg around Higuchi so she sat on top of her. She pressed her lips onto hers, her right hand running through her hair, the fingers of her left hand stroking the back of her neck. Shiraishi then slowly moved her lips to Higuchi's ears. A soft moan of approval escaped from Higuchi's mouth, which encouraged Shiraishi to continue. 

"Mai?"

Shiraishi paused her kissing and looked at Higuchi. "Yes?" Higuchi said nothing but replied with a delicate and tender, yet fiery kiss. She gently pushed Shiraishi on her back and rolled on top of her, not letting go of the kiss. Shiraishi felt her eyes roll back from pleasure and started to breath faster once Higuchi slowly kissed her way down. She felt her tongue and lips teasingly touching her nipple for a few seconds, before she moved further down to her belly button. A soft bite. Higuchi's hands around her waist. "Nnnn", Shiraishi gasped in delight.

"God, I don't deserve her", Shiraishi thought. "I don't... yesss right there." Her feelings of doubt and guilt numbed away steadily, as Higuchi drew an adventurous path with her tongue, only stopping at exactly the right spots for a few moments. "My angel... you are the reason I am still alive", she thought. She looked at the woman sitting between her legs, seeing her ravished yet beautiful hair, smelling the sweet scent of her body, mixed with a bit of the perfume she wore the day before. Shiraishi thought of taking back the lead for a moment, but she could do nothing but succumb to the angelic touches of her beloved.

Higuchi, now between Shiraishi's thighs, increased her momentum. Shiraishi closed her eyes, and with every circle and stroke, she ascended. The earth vanished, time stopped and space was non-existent. She ascended to a place where she only felt love, pleasure and freedom. A place only ruled by the two of them. Where the rhythm of her heavy breath synchronized with the motions of her sweetheart and formed the harmony of their sinful ecstasy. She ascended. She ascended and arrived.

Shiraishi silently basked in the afterglow, when she felt the warm breath of her lover, who returned to lie next to her.

"I love you too, Shiraishi Mai."

✧ To be continued ✧


	9. Desire

Yoshida ran into Miss Sato's office and slammed the door behind her! She was angry. Very angry.

"What the hell are you thinking! It is far too early to proceed with phase two, yet you authorized the start of it?! Are you insane?!", she yelled at the director's daughter.

It was silent for a few seconds, then Miss Sato started laughing out loud. She was leaning against her desk with her arms crossed, looking at the woman in front of her, not at all impressed by her outburst.

"Maybe I am. But mind your manners please. It's a bit rude to storm into the office the way you just did. By the way, the last time I checked, it was I that runs this project, not you. So when I say it is time for phase two, it is time for phase two."

"No! You are making a big mistake if you think you can play God without any consequences. I have read the latest test results. The Lazarus System is still too unstable for phase two, yet you proceeded. I am done with this project. Before things will go south. Because they will. I'm out!"  

"You want out? Guess what honey, you can't. Besides that, we are on the verge of something big here. Did you think all great inventions waited until they were perfect? There is always risk involved when it comes to cutting-edge technologies like ours. But we can't let that slow down our progress. There is enough opportunity to further develop and fine-tune things in phase two."

"No", Yoshida said with suppressed anger. "This project is immoral. No, it's worse, it's criminal. And I am not only talking about the murder of Matsumura, 'a necessary evil', as you so easily described it. It took me a long time to accept that, and it was hard to agree on some other choices you have made as well, but now you are taking things too far."

"Ha! The hypocrisy! As if you ever cared about her."

"I hated her guts. I sure did. But I didn't want her to die."

"I doubt that, honestly. Well, you have witnessed the progress we made until now. You have to admit that phase one turned out rather beautiful. So, please, stay. You have been very valuable for the project, you know that. I would go as far as to call you the missing link. Your leaving would be very... unfortunate."

"I don't care", said Yoshida as she threw her datapad on Sato's desk. "I am leaving. And not only that. I'll inform the authorities! This has to stop."

Sato sighed and her face turned sad. "You are making a big mistake, Miss Yoshida." She walked around her desk, opened one of the drawers and grabbed a pistol. "Because I won't allow anyone to jeopardize the project." 

She pointed the pistol at Yoshida.

"N-no, wait... I understand! I... I'll continue working with you on the project!"

"I am afraid it's too late to take back your words, Miss Yoshida. Just half a minute ago, you were threatening to go to the authorities. And now that I point a gun at you, you take it back? I think it's just fear talking. But what if I believed you, let you go, and you inform them anyway? That would be a serious setback for me. So I am sorry, I really preferred it to solve another way."

Sato pulled the trigger. 

✧✧✧

Shiraishi looked through the window of the train, admiring the landscapes that passed in rapid succession. A big smile adorned her pretty face. It was a long time ago she looked forward to something like this.

"You want another onigiri, Mai?", Higuchi asked her. 

Higuchi's surprise, a two night stay at a nice hotel near Enoshima, was the perfect gift at the right time. She had been saving for the trip for a while, even working some overtime to earn some extra pocket money. It was the break they both deserved, and Higuchi wanted to make it count. When she showed the train tickets and hotel reservation this morning during their breakfast, she was very nervous. But Shiraishi's reaction was better than she could have hoped for. She shouted, jumped and danced around the apartment, and hugged Higuchi so tight she couldn't breathe. A happy Shiraishi was still a rare sight, so it was worth every trouble.

"I'll eat anything you give me", Shiraishi said and held her hands up in anticipation.

"That's great news, because I have another surprise. A little one though. But tonight we are having dinner at Kaishima."

"Kaishima? The seafood restaurant?! No way!"

Higuchi smiled. "I remembered you were checking the reviews of it. It was sometime in your second week at the agency if I recall correctly. You were so mesmerized by the photos of the food, it was really cute. Maybe that was the day I fell in love with you", she said teasingly.

"But honestly, I wanted to go there like forever! Thank you so much! But I won't have you pay for it all. I work too."

"We'll see. Don't worry."

"Enoshima terminal. The next station is Enoshima terminal. Thank you for riding with us today", a friendly voice said through the intercom. 

The two left the station and walked slowly to the nearby ryokan where they planned to stay the next two nights. The weather was great. Although it was hot and humid, the sea breeze took the edge off, making the stroll pleasant enough to take a little detour. When they arrived at their hotel, they checked in and dropped off their luggage in the room. The room was a very traditional Japanese style room. The floors were covered with tatami mats and it also had a little private onsen. Shiraishi looked around, feeling like she entered another world. A world where she could briefly escape the misery from the recent past. She walked to Higuchi and wrapped her arms around her.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"... Don't mention it. Thank me by joining me in the onsen tonight. Naked", Higuchi said with a playful look.

"Sure thing sweetheart."

An hour later, they entered the restaurant. They were welcomed by the warm atmosphere, cosy furniture and a large aquarium in the center, with many beautiful fish. A staff member guided them to a table near the window. "Take a seat, ladies. Here are some hot towels and the menu. My colleague will be here soon to take your order."

The two of them took a seat. "Aah, isn't this great", Shiraishi said delightful while looking out of the window. The restaurant was located in a touristy spot, but Shiraishi loved to look at the people walking by, each of them in a good mood. 

"It really is", Higuchi replied. "I begin to understand why you were so enthusiastic about this place."

Then, a voice behind Shiraishi. "Can I take your order?" Shiraishi froze. 

That voice.

There was no other person with that voice but  _her_. 

She slowly turned her head from the window to Higuchi, who stared in bewilderment to the woman standing behind Shiraishi. 

"Excuse me, are you ready to order?", the woman repeated her question. Shiraishi gathered the courage to turn around, looked at the waitress, and burst to tears.

"M-Matsumura?"

✧ To be continued ✧

 


	10. Anguish

The waitress looked confused to the two customers in front of her, who seemed awestruck because of her presence.

"Are you... all right?", she asked carefully.

Shiraishi jumped from her chair, grabbed the girl by the shoulders and started shaking her. "Miss Matsumura! It's you isn't it! You are alive!", she said as the tears ran down from her face.

"Please... you're hurting me", the waitress said and pushed Shiraishi's hands off of her. 

"How can you be here?! You died... how in the..." Shiraishi shouted, whilst trembling all over her body.

"Mai, calm down", Higuchi said as she hastily stepped between the waitress and Shiraishi. She looked her girlfriend in the eyes. "Mai, look at me. I don't know what is going on, but she is not Miss Matsumura. It's all a misunderstanding. She just looks like her."

"No, look! It is Miss Matsumura! She is..."

"Mai, calm down! Look at me. Take a breath." Higuchi's words finally seemed to have effect.

"I'm really sorry, but I will have to ask you to leave", the waitress said. "You are being a nuisance to the other guests, and frankly, you frighten me."

"Yeah, sure, I'm sorry for the ruckus. We will leave now", Higuchi answered. She took a quick glance at the name tag of the waitress, which said "HAMADATE KAORI", before she grabbed Shiraishi by the arm and quickly walked out of the restaurant. It was still busy on the narrow street outside, so Higuchi dragged Shiraishi into a quiet alley to catch some breath. Although she managed to calm Shiraishi somewhat, Higuchi herself was panicking on the inside like mad. She allowed herself to cry as well, now that no one was looking except Shiraishi.

"What the fuck...", Higuchi uttered between heavy breaths.

"You saw it too, didn't you? That was Miss Matsumura. I need to go back", Shiraishi said.

"Wait. Yes, I saw the same as you. But it can't be her. It's impossible. She passed away. I mean... you were there..."

"You don't need to remind me of that!"

"Then you must realize this isn't possible."

"Well, how do you explain this then? I recognized her voice the moment she started talking. I hadn't even seen her, but I immediately knew it was her. She looks identical, Hinachi! She even smells identical!"

"I... I don't know. I can't explain it. But it can't be anything other than an extraordinary coincidence."

"Do you even hear yourself? A coincidence? I guess that would be the most convenient situation for you, wouldn't it. Matsumura coming back from the dead would only make things difficult, better if she stayed dead, right?"

Higuchi stood there quiet for a moment, she couldn't believe what she just heard. 

"How... can you say such a thing?", Higuchi said softly. More tears started to flow down her cheeks. "If there was a way to reunite you with Miss Matsumura, I'd do it right away. Because the only thing I care about is your happiness. But you know what, Mai?  _Fuck_ you."

She started to run away, and before Shiraishi realized, Higuchi was already around the corner of the alley. 

Shiraishi sighed, as it dawned on her that she possibly said the worst thing to Higuchi ever. She felt a few droplets of rain touching her head, as if the gods decided to accentuate the vexing situation. Suspecting that Higuchi returned to their hotel, she decided to head back, although she had no idea how to face her girlfriend. She had no idea if she actually still was her girlfriend. With every step, her chest became heavier and the rain became more persistent. It didn't stop her to take a detour, procrastinating the inevitable.

Higuchi Hina, the most patient and understanding person in the world. But even she has a limit. And Shiraishi understood she may have crossed that limit to the point of no return. 

Around fifty minutes later, Shiraishi stood in front of the door of their hotel room. She almost finished drying her rain-soaked self with the towel she received from the receptionist. Slowly, she slid the door to the side, stepped inside and closed it. She looked to the other side of the room, and noticed that the futon beds were already made. In one of them, she saw Higuchi, her back facing Shiraishi and seemingly asleep. Shiraishi took off her wet clothes and carefully slid into the other futon. 

"Hinachi?", she whispered. No reaction. The young woman was breathing slowly, and judging by her wet pillow, she must have cried herself to sleep. 

"Hinachi, I am so sorry", Shiraishi whispered, and she wrapped her arm around the woman's waist. Trying to catch some sleep was probably the best thing to do, she guessed. Maybe a night's sleep will calm the both of them down a bit. But Shiraishi's racing thoughts kept her awake for a few more hours. Thoughts of Matsumura, thoughts of the waitress that seemed to be created in her image. Thoughts of the hurt she must have inflicted on her girlfriend. In the middle of the night, she finally fell asleep, exhausted by the inability to comprehend it all. 

The early sunlight woke her again. She must have slept only for an hour or 3. Hours filled with strange and eerie dreams she couldn't properly recall, except for the dispiriting feeling they left behind.

Shiraishi looked to her side. The futon next to her was empty. 

"Hinachi?"

She quickly stood up and looked around to see if she saw her in the room, but she wasn't. A quick sprint to the bathroom. She wasn't there either. And neither were her bags and clothes. Just a little letter on the table. Shiraishi hands shook while she picked it up and unfolded it.

_Mai, I went back to Tokyo. I am sorry this trip didn't work out as I hoped it would. Higuchi Hina._

Terror struck Shiraishi's heart. It wasn't necessarily the message itself, but rather the fact Higuchi used her full name. Something she never did since they got together. 

"Not like this", Shiraishi thought. She quickly grabbed her belongings, stuffed it into her suitcase and took the train to Suginami, Tokyo. After that, a short walk brought her to Higuchi's apartment, where she took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

No answer. Maybe she went someplace else? Shiraishi grabbed her phone, looked at it, and put it away again. Calling her would be a bad idea. This was something that couldn't be solved over the phone. 

"What are you doing here?" 

Shiraishi turned around and saw Higuchi. Her keys in one hand, a bag of groceries in the other. Her lips were pressed tightly and her eyes, puffy and red, were void of any of her usual kindness.

"Hinachi... please hear me out. I didn't..."

"Stop it. I don't want to hear any of it. I don't want to hear you tell me about how your emotions got the best of you and how you didn't mean what you said. Because you said it anyway."

Shiraishi was silenced by her words. Once again, Higuchi knew her better than she did herself.

"Mai, please leave. I don't want to be with you."

✧ To be continued ✧


	11. Quest

Higuchi walked past Shiraishi and opened her front door, but when she tried to close it, Shiraishi put her foot in the door and pushed it back open. Higuchi stared at her in awe, as Shiraishi's panic seemed to turn to anger.

"Hey! You can't just end things like this! I... I know I can be the worst sometimes. But you know that! And you accepted me that way. You accepted me, you decided to love me, despite all my flaws and fuck ups. And now I fucked up again. It's who I am. So why am I not good enough now? It's not fair to change your game and break up with me all of a sudden! It's not fair..."

Higuchi shook her head. "Wait. What? Who said anything about breaking up?"

"Eh? You did."

"You are hearing things. I am not going to break up with you, and I never said I was going to. But you did hurt me a lot. And I don't want to see you right now. I want to lock myself up and cry all day and be miserable and eat ice cream. It's my way to deal with this, and to keep accepting you, and to stay in love with you. So, go away!"

"I see... I'm so sorry Hinachi."

The door fell into its lock. Shiraishi felt relieved. Once Higuchi regained her composure, things will go back to normal, she thought. 

✧✧✧

Monday morning at Nogizaka Design Agency. Shitara walked into the office with a troubled look on his face. "Good morning everyone! We all have to work a little harder today. Shiraishi just called in sick. And did anyone hear from Yoshida? Here phone's been dead since Friday. And she's not here yet."

Ignoring Shitara's question, Higuchi looked at her phone. Usually, Shiraishi messages her when she is sick, but she didn't receive any today. She wondered if she was really sick, or wanted to avoid awkward situations. Or maybe just give Higuchi the space she needed. Whatever the reason, she appreciated the silence.

_vzzzzzt_

Shit. Higuchi opened the phone. It was Shiraishi after all.

_Good morning, Hinachi. I hope I am not messaging you too soon. I just wanted to say I am a bit under the weather so I won't be at the office today. You might have heard already. I just wanted to make sure you don't feel obliged to come over. I am going to sleep a lot, and I will be fine. Please take the time you need. Love, Mai._

✧✧✧

Shiraishi put her phone in her purse, grabbed her wallet and took out a ticket. "Where are you going Miss?" the conductor asked while he checked the ticket.

"Enoshima."

"Enoshima? That's lovely, have a nice day!"

Shiraishi didn't expect it to be. 

The situation with Higuchi seemed under control. It wasn't ideal but her worries about it had lessened. But with it, her thoughts and worries about the waitress returned full effect. There was a deep desire to know the truth, to know who she was and why she had an uncanny resemblance to Matsumura. But she was scared of it as well. At each station closer to her destination, she felt the urge to ran out of the train.

Once in Enoshima, she went straight for her goal, the restaurant. She walked through the narrow shopping street, not paying attention to the people and the fairly nice weather, things visitors usually do. With each step, her legs became more heavy and her face more pale. 

The restaurant wasn't opened yet when she arrived. Shiraishi peeked through the doors, but the lights weren't on, except for in the kitchen. Some moving shadows were cast onto the walls, which she thought might be the employees preparing for the day. 

"What the hell am I doing here?", Shiraishi started to ask herself. "It's far too early. And for all I know, she could not be working today." 

But to go back home was not an option. She came this far. Shiraishi walked to the other side of the street and sat down. She waited for hours, staring at the restaurant and it's surroundings, hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman she was here for. Only interrupted by the occasional glance at her phone to inform herself of the time. 

A jolt went through her body when she saw the lights turn on around opening time. Another one when the front door slid open. But it was a young man that came out to put some signs outside. A few people entered the restaurant. Shiraishi thought about joining, but realized the direct approach wasn't going to work, because she would probably be denied entrance forever if she made a scene again. 

She walked up to the large window of the restaurant. There were a lot of plastic displays of the food on the other side, which was convenient. She could look inside without being in plain sight. To be sure, she wrapped a scarf around her head. 

There were two young waitresses helping the guests, but neither one was the woman Shiraishi was looking for. 

"Please come in", a friendly voice said next to her. It was the young waiter from before.

"No, thanks. I am not hungry."

"You have been looking at our food displays for twenty minutes now, so I'd expected otherwise. How about just a small snack and a drink? It's important to stay hydrated you know. It's hot."

"Uh well, okay then...", Shiraishi hesitatedly answered. While she walked behind the waiter that guided her to her seat, she hoped that no one noticed her trembling. She focused on her breathing to avoid another panic attack, as she realized Higuchi wasn't with her to save her this time.

"I'll have some fried shrimps and an ice coffee please", she said quickly once she sat down. The waiter nodded and headed for the kitchen. 

Shiraishi decided to extend her stay as long as possible without drawing too much attention. She slowly ate the shrimps and once in a while ordered another ice coffee when the waiter was around. 

Around 6 p.m., the restaurant was filled with people. The number of employees working also increased, but she didn't see the person she was looking for. Upon realization that this day had been for nothing, Shiraishi's eyes became teary. "Don't cry", she thought to herself. "Don't cry, just pay and leave."

She dragged herself to the register. "Thank you for your patronage", a woman said, seemingly coming out of nowhere.

Shiraishi dropped her wallet. It was  _her_. At the very moment she let her guard down, she appeared.

She quickly awoke from her trance by the sound of the wallet hitting the ground, and quickly picked it up. "I'm so sorry", she said as she took some money out of it and put it on the little dish next to the register, without directly looking to the woman. She wanted to, but she was afraid she would lose it.

"Sorry Miss, but that is not enough. The total is 1800 yen..."

She couldn't help it anymore, Shiraishi looked up, right into the woman's eyes. Her brown and lovely eyes. Those eyes were unmistakenly Matsumura's, and were imprinted in her memory forever. She knew every emotion coming from them. From the joy and amazement they radiated on their first date, to the horror and pain she could see in them during her final moments. 

The waitress tilted her head a bit and gave Shiraishi an examining look.

"Wait, do I know you? You look familiar."

Shiraishi managed to appear calm despite the turmoil of emotions that ran through her whole body. "I don't think so", she answered quickly. She looked back to her wallet and took out a few 100 yen coins to pay the proper amount. 

"Thanks for the meal", she said and quickly walked out of the restaurant. Outside it was already becoming dark. She ran into the alley where she and Higuchi had their fight a few days before, escaping the crowd. 

_vzzzzzzzt_

_vzzzzzzzt_

Shiraishi hardly had the chance to calm down, when her phone suddenly buzzed. It was Higuchi calling. "Now of all times", Shiraishi said softly to herself. She decided not to answer it, since she was in no state to hold a decent conversation. She chose to send a message back.

_Hinachi, sorry for not picking up. I have a headache and I try to get some sleep. Hope you understand!  Love._

She hoped that it would keep her from stopping by her apartment. Next problem, the waitress. Shiraishi decided to hide herself near the back door of the restaurant, and wait for the waitress to go home. She found a few trash cans she could sit behind. The wait was long and it gradually became quite cold, but at around 11 p.m., she saw the young woman exit the door. 

Shiraishi followed her silently, and made sure she didn't come too close. The waitress entered the platform at the nearest train station, and stepped into the train that came ten minutes later. Shiraishi copied her actions, and took a seat at the other end of the same car. 

At Kamakura, the waitress exited the train. "She lives around here?", Shiraishi asked herself. She continued to follow her stealthily through the narrow streets near the station. Suddenly, the woman stopped and turned around. Shiraishi quickly jumped behind a wall.

"If you want to trail me, do it properly next time so I won't notice", the waitress yelled.

Shiraishi showed herself, realizing hiding any longer was futile anyway.

"I knew I had seen you before. You were in the restaurant last week as well, weren't you? With your friend?"

"I'm really sorry", Shiraishi apologized, "I really didn't mean to follow you like this, but..."

"I don't know what is wrong with you, but you have me mistaken for someone else. Please leave me alone."

"No, I am not!" Shiraishi's heart started to beat frantically. "You are Matsumura Sayuri!"

The waitress walked towards Shiraishi. "Well, I have never heard of that name. My name is Hamadate Kaori, since the day I was born. And if you keep harassing me, I will call the police."

"Can I show you one thing?", Shiraishi asked. "Just one thing I need you to see. Then I will leave you alone."

Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed her phone and opened her picture gallery to find the photo she took of Matsumura on their only date. On it, Matsumura was throwing coins into a gachapon while brightly smiling towards the camera. It was the only photo she had of her, and it became her treasure. Not a single day had gone by where she didn't look at it.

She turned the screen towards Hamadate. "This is you, right?"

The woman examined the photo, her face expressing disbelief. After what seemed minutes of silence, she reacted. "That is not me. Yeah, she does look a lot like me. But it can't be me. I don't even like beer."

Shiraishi looked at her, her eyes growing wide. "Beer?" 

They sure drank a couple of beers during their silly spree that evening.

"But... h-how do you know? I was holding your can while I took the photo!"

✧ To be continued ✧

 

 


	12. Triangle

Hamadate looked at Shiraishi in disbelief.

"Show me that photo again, I am sure I saw it."

Shiraishi handed over her phone. Hamadate looked at it closely, pinching and zooming every spot to discover the can of beer she was sure she had seen. But it wasn't there.

"Let me ask you another question", Shiraishi said, "your scar, did it heal nicely?"

Hamadate turned pale. "My... scar?"

"Yes, your scar. The one here", Shiraishi said as she moved her hand over her own abdomen, just above her navel. 

"You know about that... now you are really scaring me..."

"I don't mean to. I'm sorry."

Shiraishi looked at the young woman that stood in front of her, who's face was a mix of fear and disgust and she was clearly trying to think about a logical explanation for this turn of events, but she didn't seem to succeed.

"Maybe I should leave you alone, as you requested. I don't want to confuse you anymore. Take the time to think about what I have said and shown you. But I'll give you my number, so you can contact me if you want."

"No way! You are not going to drop a bomb like this and then run off! I... I live around the corner, please come in and, for the love of God, please tell me what the hell is going on."

FIve minutes later, Shiraishi took a seat on a small black couch. The apartment she was in was small, with only some basic furniture in it. Hamadate was standing at the kitchen counter, preparing some tea for the two of them. Shiraishi rubbed her hands, they were sweaty. She couldn't really grasp the fact she was actually sitting in the apartment of the woman she believed has come back from the dead. The absurdity of it all was probably the reason she felt considerably calm. 

Hamadate put a cup of tea in front of Shiraishi and sat down in the seat across her. Her eyes were red, which made Shiraishi wonder if she had been crying in silence while in the kitchen.

"Please tell me, how do you know about the accident?", Hamadate asked her visitor.

"Accident?", Shiraishi replied, "what accident?"

"You know about my scar. You just told me! You even know the exact place!"

"Well, that is because the woman on the photo was stabbed right there. I... I had to ask to make sure my presumptions were right. Not that there was any doubt, but..."

"I had a car accident."

"Eh?"

"I had a car accident. The scar... I got it when I was launched through the windshield, and a piece of glass punctured my abdomen. You see? Just because I have a lot in common with whats-her-name doesn't mean I am her. I am truly sorry you had to lose her, but don't chase a mirage."

"That doesn't explain why you remembered things that weren't on the photo."

"So what!? Just because we can't explain everything doesn't immediately mean that I am your dead girlfriend!"

The outburst startled Shiraishi. Dumbfounded, she stared at the tea cup in front of her.

"Maybe you should leave."

Shiraishi nodded. "Okay, I'll leave." She stood up and walked to the door, with Hamadate walking behind her. Suddenly, she turned around and pressed her lips fiercely onto Hamadate's. She pushed away Shiraishi almost immediately.

"What the... are you out of your mind!?" Hamadate's eyes glared.

"I had to... to see if you remembered..."

"You are insane! How can you think such a cheap trick will work? We weren't even really together, let alone had a kiss! So how can..."

"And you know this, how exactly?", Shiraishi interrupted her. 

Hamadate looked at her, not knowing what to say. 

Her head slowly started to ache, not being able to comprehend the fact she had memories that weren't hers. Then the tears came. 

"I'm so sorry", Shiraishi said and hugged the woman tightly. She didn't resist. Shiraishi started to cry as well. She managed to keep a calm front all this time, but it broke down when she felt Hamadate's body shaking with every sob. 

"Please, don't leave. I don't know what is going on, but I am afraid. I don't want to be alone."

"You trust me?", Shiraishi asked.

"Yes. Somehow, I do."

"Then I'll stay. I don't know what is going on either, but I assure you, we will get to the bottom of this."

✧✧✧

"Miss Sato, thank you for coming so soon", Hori Miona said. She was one of the scientists involved in Project Lazarus, and every morning she checked the logs and analyzes the feedback of their invention. But this morning, she was alarmed by the recent data. 

"You sounded so upset when you called! Is something wrong with prototype YAC002?"

"No no, she passed the treatment with no problems, and she is stable now. It is about MS001. Her EQ charts went through the roof since last evening. Also... check this." 

Hori grabbed a couple of charts and schemes. 

"Look at this chart. It is a 24-hour chart of the hippocampus activity. It's the part of the brain that plays a big role concerning our memories. The last 12 hours have been... exceptional. Look at these spikes!"

"What does it mean?"

"I-I think she is remembering things... from before."

"No way! That is not possible. Did you check the limiter? It is supposed to suppress memories!"

"The limiter didn't malfunction. It runs at a steady 80%, which must mean she had a very emotional encounter if the memories bypassed it."

"80%? What the. Turn it up to full! We need to counter this before we lose control of her!"

"But Miss Sato! The limiter is directly linked to the nervous system. If we raise it, we don't know what could happen. It'll certainly mess her up, if we don't kill her on the spot."

"Then make it 90. We'll see what happens."

"But..."

"No buts! Do it! Also, did you find out what could have triggered these memories?"

"It seems she had a visitor when she came home from work. I think it's the first time she had company. I already ran some facial recognition scans, but no luck. It was already too dark to properly catch her visitor's face. But I don't think it's a coincidence, I believe there is a correlation between her visit and the abnormal readings."

Sato sighed. "All right, keep me posted. Call me if you detect even the slightest anomaly."

✧✧✧

Shiraishi opened her eyes. She didn't notice it the night before, but the bedroom didn't have a window. "Must be depressing", she thought. She looked at the floor, and recognized her clothes that were scattered across it. She needed a moment to fully recollect the events of the previous night but once she did, a sigh escaped from her mouth. 

Sure, she felt a bit guilty about cheating on Higuchi, but most of all, there was bliss. Making love with Hamadate, a goddess deemed unreachable, was beyond anything she ever dared to dream. 

The fact that she opened up to Shiraishi so fast was a bit surreal as well. At first, they just talked. Mostly small talk, but they occasionally touched upon a more sensitive subject, just slightly. They both realized they wouldn't get all the answers that evening, and they both didn't feel the need to provoke their emotions too much.

At one point, Shiraishi kissed her again. As soon as she felt Hamadate's lips, she felt bad for being so egoistic, but to her surprise, Hamadate returned her kiss. She actually took the lead at one point and pulled her into the bedroom. What happened afterwards was merely an astral daze of rapture. 

Shiraishi turned around, when she noticed Hamadate wasn't in bed anymore. She decided to stay in bed herself for a couple of minutes, waiting for the smell of coffee to enter the room. But it didn't. Shiraishi walked into the living room, and saw Hamadate standing at the kitchen counter. 

"Good morning!", Shiraishi greeted. No reaction. "Hamadate?"

She walked to the young woman, who was unresponsive and just seemed to look at the kitchen wall. When Shiraishi looked into her eyes, they seemed far away, not capable of noticing the woman in front of her."

"Hamadate? Hamadate! Can you hear me? Hamadate?"

Her head turned achingly slow towards Shiraishi, but it still seemed as if she was looking right through to her. 

"Pan...cakes...?", she said.

Shiraishi realized something was very wrong and ran to her phone to check the location of the nearest clinic, after which she grabbed Hamadate by the hand. She seemed to have no will of her own, and just walked along with Shiraishi as she guided her. 

Half an hour later, they sat in front of a doctor. Hamadate was still out of it, occasionally uttering a random word, or laughing for a short time. 

"Hamadate... Kaori?", the doctor asked while he scrolled his mouse wheel frantically. "Strange... I can't seem to find her medical record. Well, Miss, maybe you can tell me? Does she suffer from stress or anxiety a lot lately?"

"Uh... not that I know of. But, I don't see her that much. I... visited her yesterday after a long time. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary until this morning...", Shiraishi said, trying to be as truthful as possible. 

"I see. Miss Hamadate seems to suffer from an extreme form of dissociation. It could be due to stress, but it might also be a neurological problem. I am afraid we have to keep her for a day and perform some test and scans to determine the cause. But please don't worry, the symptoms you see now, they will most likely fade away in the next couple of hours."

Shiraishi nodded. "Can I stay with her?"

"You can wait in the waiting room until the tests are done. Depending on the outcome, you can take her home later today."

Shiraishi took a seat in the waiting room and tried to read a magazine to take her mind of the situation, but that didn't really work. The thoughts and worries were continuously breaking through. Did she go too far yesterday? Was it too much information to process? Was she too selfish kissing her out of the blue, not once but twice?

After only twenty minutes, a nurse approached Shiraishi. "Excuse me, but could you come with me for a moment. We discovered something we can't... explain."

Shiraishi nodded, and followed the nurse into one of the examination rooms, where Hamadate was lying under a big scanner. A neurologist and another nurse were talking and pointing to a screen, clearly surprised. It instilled her with the uneasiest of feelings. The doctor waved to Shiraishi to come closer once he saw her. 

"Excuse us for calling you all of a sudden. This may seem like a strange question, but do you happen to know anything about what we are seeing here?", the neurologist asked. 

Shiraishi looked at the screen, and quickly recognized the shape of Hamadate's body. Within it, her brain and nervous system where lit up. But also was a little, triangle shaped object, just a bit above her belly button. Something not organic, something clearly man made.

"Matsumura... what have they done to you...?"

✧ To be continued ✧ 


	13. Replica

_Sweet Hinachi. Sorry for not replying to your messages sooner. Today was pretty hectic. I am going to tell you the truth. I am not sick. I went to Enoshima and now I am heading back home. Hamadate Kaori, the waitress, is with me. She is Matsumura. I am sure you don't believe that, but I will explain it all later. If you ever want to see me again, of course. You have every right to hate me. Love, Mai._

Shiraishi saw the skyline of Tokyo appear in the distance from the train window while she put her phone in her bag. Dusk had approached and the sky was a mix of orange and purple. On the seat next to her, Hamadate was sleeping. Her head was resting on Shiraishi's shoulder, eyes closed and mouth half open. Shiraishi could hear and feel her breath. It was comforting.

The neurologist stopped the tests soon after he discovered the anomalous object inside Hamadate's body. Since Shiraishi couldn't explain to him what the thing was, the neurologist decided it was better to wait until Hamadate returned to her normal self, and to return to the specialist who implemented the device. Shiraishi wasn't sure if there was such a person. She wasn't even sure if Hamadate herself knew what she was carrying inside of her.

Despite that, Shiraishi did find out it was an electronic device. It emitted a radiation, and it interfered with the scanner every now and then. Because of that, she knew exactly who to turn to. She had already called her, to inform if it was okay to stop by with a "technical problem". They were almost there.

Hamadate's odd behavior slowly disappeared, and although she was very tired, Shiraishi could finally talk to her. She told the short version of what happened, and what they had found. Hamadate nodded at everything, seemingly accepting the things as they were. 

Shiraishi rang the doorbell, and as if she was already waiting at the door, Takayama opened immediately. She smiled for a second, but as soon as she wanted to greet her colleague, her eyes fell on Hamadate.

"Miss... Matsumura?"

She looked back at Shiraishi in disbelief.

"What... is she... no way... what?"

"It's her. She goes by the name of Hamadate Kaori now. Sorry for not telling this over the phone, but I wasn't sure if you'd... believe me", Shiraishi said.

"That's... okay, but I need a minute to process this rather sudden... surprise."

Not much later, Shiraishi and Hamadate sat down on the couch in the living room, and Shiraishi started to explain the situation. Takayama listened with utmost interest, and to Shiraishi's relief, didn't dismiss her story as nonsense. 

"Now we need to find out what the device does, and how it got there", Shiraishi concluded. "We hope you can help us with your technical knowledge. Maybe check this first, these are prints from the scan they made in the hospital. See this triangle?"

Takayama put on her glasses and started to look at the prints carefully. 

"This is fascinating!", Takayama said with enthusiasm. Shiraishi couldn't help but laugh a little. Takayama was a gadget freak, and very into new technological developments.

"This looks like a slot for some kind of chip, but I am not sure. It's hard to see. Didn't you say something about radiation by the way?"

"Yes, the neurologist said so. Sometimes the monitor acted strange because of it."

"Miss Hamadate, do you have a phone? If so, can I see it?"

Hamadate nodded and gave her phone to Takayama, who tapped a couple of times on the device and started to make a scan-like movement with it.

"Ah! There it is! Wow!", she said happily, continued by "Oh, sorry" when she saw the clueless eyes of her visitors. 

"The device communicates with her phone! I don't know exactly how, but it seems like an advanced sort of close distance communication. My own phone couldn't pick it up though, so I don't think it is a common technique. Now let me check..."

She tapped away on the phone rapidly for a few minutes, sometimes nodding and humming. Shiraishi and Hamadate looked at each other, both nervous about what Takayama could dig up.

"Clever!", she yelled all of a sudden.

"Miss Takayama, please, tell us something!", Shiraishi reacted.

"Sure, sorry! Check this, it's an app that runs in the background. It's hidden, well, kind of. But look at it! These numbers, charts... Miss Matsu... uh, Hamadate, your heart rate is 110 at the moment. Which is kind of high by the way."

"Well, I am a bit anxious", Hamadate answered.

"This is all Hamadate's data?", Shiraishi asked.

"Yes it is. The device sends everything, and I mean everything, to this phone. But what worries me is the fact there is an outgoing signal coming from the phone as well. It's a regular phone network signal, but I think it is sending all this information to another receiver."

"Where to?", Hamadate asked.

"I can't see that and I am not sure if it is traceable at all. I might be able to intercept the data itself to get a clear picture of what is being send, but the destination is probably encrypted, if not masked by a multitude of proxies. "

"I have no idea what that means, but I guess there is no way to find out the whole meaning of this, right...", Shiraishi sighed.

"Maybe there is. It depends whether or not those who are behind this can control the little device inside of Miss Matsu... uh, Hamadate. Excuse me, force of habit. Anyway, if they send a signal back, I might be able to pinpoint it's origins. But to do so I'd have to tap directly into the device. And I have no idea how to. The thing being inside a body and all. But once we figure that out, maybe there is a way... if we can get past the firewall, of course."

Hamadate started to cry. "This is hopeless! What the hell do they want from me!"

Shiraishi embraced her. "We'll find out, sweetheart. I am sure of that! It might take a while, but if we are patient, we eventually will know the truth. Look how much we came to know just now because of Miss Takayama!" 

Takayama was typing rapidly on her keyboard. "We'll see how far we can get with this. Right now, I am trying to copy as much of the app that is sending this data as possible. Maybe I can create a replica of it and install it on your phone. It'll take some time, but if it works, I might be able to send a copy of the data to myself so that we can see what they see."

"Do you need my phone? I can leave it here", Hamadate asked while drying her eyes.

"No. Keep it with you. If you leave it here, it will stop sending the data because you need to be close to it. It might raise suspicion. And in case you haven't realized yet, they probably are tracking your whereabouts the whole time. Even if you don't carry your phone, because I am pretty sure they have a tracker inside your body as well. They will quickly realize it if you left it behind."

"Let's go home for now, okay?", Shiraishi said to Hamadate. "We'll go to my place. You call in sick tomorrow and after that, we will think about our next step. But now, we are going to get some sleep first. Miss Takayama, please don't tell anyone about this. Especially not at the office."

"I won't, I promise. And I'll let you know if I figured out how to replicate the app."

"Thank you so much. You are amazing."

✧✧✧

During the walk to Shiraishi's home, both women didn't say much. They both gradually realized the gravity of the situation, and every answer came with new questions. Busy with all their thoughts, they walked the narrow streets on autopilot. Shiraishi wasn't sure why she sudden snapped out of her trance. Was it the unusual appearance of the car with its tinted windows, the realization that there was no one else walking the streets, or just a gut feeling? She was sure about one thing though. Something was not right.

"Hamadate! Run!"

Shiraishi grabbed the unsuspecting woman's arm and dragged her into a nearby alley. 

"Shiraishi... what the..."

"Just run, okay!"

They heard the car doors slam behind them. Shiraishi tried to take left and right turns as much as possible. She knew the area, it was not far from here apartment, but still too far away to hide there. It was easy to get lost here if you don't know your way, but Shiraishi figured she could use that to their advantage. She heard Hamadate panting. 

"Stop!", a man's voice shouted behind them, followed by a couple of loud bangs. The whining sound of the bullets ricocheting off the walls filled Shiraishi with dread. Fearing for her life, but mostly for that of the woman running behind her, she planned their escape route three turns ahead. Left. Right. Right. Hamadate still panting behind her. Good. Right. Left.

More loud bangs. Shiraishi felt her right leg collapse and she fell to the ground, screaming in agony. A burning pain quickly arose from the wound which she tried to clutch, but before she was able to do so, she felt Hamadate's hands lifting her body and carrying her away. Shiraishi quickly lost her sense of direction because of the pain and dizziness, but not long thereafter, Hamadate lay her down behind some shrubs.

"Don't move, and don't make a sound", she said to Shiraishi while she took off her vest and quickly bound it around the wound. Shiraishi's vision blurred, and she heard the footsteps of the one she adored fade into the distance. She wanted to scream, but she could only whisper. 

"Hamadate... please... don't leave me alone..."

✧ To be continued ✧

 


	14. Shadow

Hamadate heard the footsteps of the two pursuers behind her. The fact that they came after her and didn't discover Shiraishi was according to her plan, but meanwhile, she needed to shake them off herself as well. No matter which way she'd run, they seemed to know exactly where she went. She needed to think of a different approach. 

She ran and ran until she saw a wall with a drainpipe. She quickly used it to climb up the roof of the little shack it was attached to. The pursuers where close, so she quickly laid as flat as possible. They stopped next to the shack, seemingly confused.

"Eh? Where the fuck did she go? She must be here somewhere!", one of the men said.

"Check the block. I'll wait here."

Hamadate knew she had little time, and started to dislodge one of the loose tiles of the roof. She then slowly sneaked to the edge of the roof. The man that stayed behind was directly below her, looking around nervously. Hamadate lifted the tile and threw with all her power. She heard the man's skull crack, followed by the thud of his body falling lifeless to the ground.

"One down", she thought and jumped of the roof. 

✧✧✧

Shiraishi came slowly to her senses. Although the pain in her right leg was intense, she couldn't bear not knowing where Hamadate was and because she feared the worst, she tried to stand up. It took a few times, but she got herself off the ground. She stumbled away from the bushes, to the narrow streets behind it. She didn't see or hear anyone. 

"Hey! You!", a sudden voice behind her said. She turned around and stood face to face with one of the chasers. He pointed his gun at Shiraishi. She didn't recognize him. 

"Tell me, where is she? The woman who was with you. Now!"

"What do you want from her!", Shiraishi yelled at him. Her voice echoed.

"Just worry about yourself. Tell me where she is, or I'll kill you."

"Even if I knew, I would never, NEVER tell you. So just get it over with and shoot me."

BLAM!

The loud gunshot startled Shiraishi, she closed her eyes and braced for impact. 

BLAM! BLAM! 

To her surprise, she heard the sound of the man in front of her collapse to the pavement.

"Shiraishi! Are you okay!?" Hamadate came running from a dark alley. The gun in her hand was still smoking. 

"Hamadate, thank God, you're alive", Shiraishi cried as she embraces her savior. "Thank God..."

"They're both... neutralized. We're safe for now. Let's get you to a hospital first, that wound needs treatment."

"No! Then we'll have to answer questions... it'll put us in danger. It's just a graze wound anyway. We can patch it up at my place."

They heard sirens wailing in the distance. Hamadate nodded in agreement to Shiraishi's proposal. Shiraishi could hardly walk, but with the support of Hamadate, they reached Shiraishi's apartment five minutes later.

"Lie down. And brace yourself. This might sting a little", Hamadate said as she put some disinfectant on the wound. Shiraishi managed to keep her screams inside, but tears ran across her face.

"We can't stay here forever, you know", Hamadate said while she put a gauze around Shiraishi's leg. "They can track me, I am sure of it now. Those men followed me when we split. It's just a matter of time until they come knocking at your door. So we'll stay here for the night, to give your leg some rest. I'll barricade the doors. Oh, and I'll give you this. For when things get awry. Don't hesitate, okay?" 

Hamadate put a gun on the side table next to the couch Shiraishi was lying on. 

"Maybe you should have the gun, I..."

"I also have one. I took the guns of both men", Hamadate interrupted her with a grin. After that, she went through the apartment and piled up everything she could use to block the door and the large window in the back. Finished, she walked to Shiraishi, who was surprised by the courage and determination of her protector.

"This is the best we can do for now. Why don't you go and get some sleep. I'll keep watch", Hamadate said as she took a seat next to Shiraishi. 

"You need sleep as well! I don't want you to have another nervous breakdown!"

"I have the medicine. Don't worry. If I want to sleep for a bit, I'll wake you, okay?"

"Okay..."

Not long thereafter, Shiraishi fell into a deep sleep. 

✧✧✧

A loud pounding on the front door early in the morning woke the two women up immediately. They looked at each other wide-eyed. Hamadate put her finger on her lips to indicate Shiraishi should stay as quiet as possible, after which she silently stood up, grabbed one of the guns on the table and sneaked to the door. Again, a loud pounding. It made Hamadate jump in surprise, raising her heartbeat to new levels. The stacked furniture and items against the door shook from the heaviness of the pounding, and she was afraid it might collapse for a moment, but it didn't. She reached the window and tried to look through the closed blinders, but she could hardly see anything. Opening them wasn't an option, as the risk to be noticed was too high. 

Then she heard the metallic sound of the mailbox, and quickly thereafter, a shadow went past the window. Hamadate held her breath in fear. It was totally quiet for a minute. She looked back at Shiraishi, who was still looking at Hamadate full of despair. In the distance, she heard a car door close and the sound of the engine revving. Once that sound faded away in the distance, Hamadate dared to release her breath.

"I think we're okay... I am going to check outside", she whispered, still afraid to draw attention.

"No!", Shiraishi said, "it's too risky."

"Well, we can't stay inside forever. We need to leave anyway and stay on the move. But first I'll check if the area is safe."

Hamadate removed the barricade, and with the gun in her hand she slowly opened the door. She looked around the corner. No one was there. She took a step outside so she could look over the balcony access and the staircase at the end of it. An old lady walked up the stairs with what seemed a bag of vegetables, and entered one of the apartments. Then she noticed the mailbox, and the large envelope that was jammed in it. She took it out. "SHIRAISHI MAI" was written on it with big letters. 

"Look... they left this", she said as she closed the door and walked back to Shiraishi. 

Shiraishi took the envelope. It was quite heavy.

"I'm going to open it", she said and immediately did so. A letter fell on the ground. Shiraishi picked it up and started to read.

_Dear Miss Shiraishi,_

_First, let me commend you. Your persistence in aiding Miss Hamadate is admirable, and you have done a great job so far. But the time to play games must come to an end._

_We have someone close to you in our possession. As you can see on the attached photos, she is still alive. We would like to keep it that way, but that can only happen with your cooperation. I need you to bring Miss Hamadate to the location crossed on the included map._

_Your deadline is tomorrow, 12 am. If  this deadline not met, I am afraid I have another life to end. I have confidence you'll do the wise thing._

Shiraishi looked at Hamadate, who was clueless about the contents of the letter, but the tears in Shiraishi's eyes hinted a fresh hell. She saw her reaching into the envelope to get the rest of the contents out, which seemed to be a map and a few photos. Shiraishi looked to them, horrified.

Shiraishi cried as she fell on her knees. One of the photos fell on the ground before Hamadate. A photo with a young woman, tied to a chair, blood all over her face, a newspaper of that day on her lap. Shiraishi continued to cry as she looked up towards Hamadate.

"No... not her... not Hinachi..."

✧ To be continued ✧

 

 


	15. Chameleon

"Father. Are you really proud of me now?"

Sato Kaede turned around once more, moving her head closer to the edge of her pillow. It was hard to find a dry spot after hours of crying. She had her own bed at her workplace. It was one of her solutions to stay as close to the project as possible. Losing control of it was her biggest fear, but it was exactly what was happening. 

She could hardly sleep because of it. And when she dozed off for a second, there were the dreams. The dreams where Matsumura Sayuri stood at the end of her bed, tearing her own abdomen with her bare hands to pull out a triangular shaped device. As gruesome and bloody as it was, the worst part of the dream came after that, when Matsumura screamed and laughed at Sato at a deafening volume.

No, she'd rather stay awake. The guilt and the despair weren't pleasant, but she got used to it. The thoughts were horrible, but at least, she could control those. She got up from the bed, threw some water in her face and dressed herself. Five minutes later, she held her key card to the lock that was embedded in the door, after which it opened and she stepped into a large cell. There was nothing, except a chair in the exact middle, to which Higuchi was bound by a rope around her ankles and wrists. 

"Good morning. I hope you slept better than I did, but by the looks of it, that isn't the case."

"Mmm.. hmmm!", Higuchi reacted. 

"Oh, I am sorry, let me remove that", Sato said as she removed the gag from her mouth. 

"Help! Somebody, help me!", Higuchi shouted immediately.

"Okay. I suspect you're not the cooperative type. No wonder they beat you up this badly. But you can save your voice, no one can hear you."

Higuchi started to cry. "Please, just let me go. I don't know what you want from me. I haven't done anything wrong. Please, stop this."

"Quiet now honey, and let me explain. You see, your girlfriend is aiding another woman. Her name is Hamadate Kaori, but you once knew her as Matsumura Sayuri. She was your colleague, right? She got murdered, but thanks to us, she is alive again. And we want to take care of her, but she won't allow us to do so. That's why I thought of a little trade. We get Miss Hamadate back, and you stay alive. You see? There isn't much to worry about. They both are smart girls and will do the right thing. Tomorrow, you will be free again. Now, what can I get you for breakfast?"

✧✧✧

Hamadate kneeled next to the crying Shiraishi and put her arm on her shoulder. With her other hand, she picked up the photos that were scattered on the floor. She didn't recognize the woman that was on it. It was clear though that she took quite a beating. Her bruised face and torn clothes provided an eerie contract to the pristine walls of the cell she seemed to be locked in.

"Say... This is the girl who was with you in the restaurant the other day, right? Who is she?", Hamadate asked carefully.

The question came unexpected. Shiraishi hadn't told Hamadate of Higuchi's existence. It was a conversation best kept postponed, she reasoned. There were more pressing matters. But now that Higuchi had fallen into the hands of the enemy, there was no choice but to come clean. 

"She is... my girlfriend...", Shiraishi whispered.

Hamadate said nothing and the quietness that filled the room for a moment was too much to handle for Shiraishi at that moment.

"For the love of God, Hamadate, please say something! Say you'll understand! Or tell me how low of a human being I am, lying to you both! But please, say something!"

"Let's get her out."

That wasn't the reaction Shiraishi expected.

"Eh?"

"I am going to turn myself in. As they have written in that letter. Then your girlfriend will be free."

"No! You can't! God knows what they'll do to you!"

"You read the letter. They will kill her if I don't turn up before the deadline. I am not going to let that happen. It's over. They won."

"No, they haven't! We still have until noon tomorrow. That's more than 24 hours! We still have time to figure out a way to get her out without you sacrificing yourself."

"You don't get it do you? This mess all started with me appearing in your life. Your life is in jeopardy, and so is your girlfriend's. And all I have to do to make that stop is disappear again."

"I think you are the one that doesn't  _get_ things! Have you ever realized that you are the best thing that ever happened to me? Despite the circumstances, this is a second chance for the both of us. I love you, Hamadate. I am not letting you go this time. "

"Even if that means this woman's demise?"

"..."

"Because that is what's going to happen."

"Fuck you Hamadate! No one dies. Except for the enemy."

"You're delusional", Hamadate sighed.

_vzzzzzt_

Shiraishi's phone buzzed. It was Takayama. Shiraishi never answered a call this fast before.

"Takayama? What's up? Did you find anything?"

"I think I have. But I can't talk too much about it, I am at the office now. You know, pretending to work, but actually trying to dig through the, uh, data. Can we meet during lunch time?"

"Sure!", Shiraishi replied. "But let's go to a public spot, with many people. It's the least dangerous for now."

"Did something happen?"

✧✧✧

Two hours later, the three of them were sitting in a busy cafe. "This is awful, what in the world is happening?", Takayama reacted after hearing everything that went down after Hamadate and Shiraishi left her apartment. 

"Miss Takayama... you should know, I have decided I..."

"No!", Shiraishi interrupted Hamadate loud enough for some other guests to turn their heads. "We talked about this. We can't give up, yet. Takayama, what did you find?"

"Please, don't be angry, but... I broke our promise. I have told someone about your situation... but only because I believe she can help us."

That person approached them the moment she finished her sentence.

"Oh my... it's really you", Nishino said, taken aback by the presence of Hamadate, even though Takayama already prepared her for this unbelievable fact. 

"You told Miss Nishino? Why!?", Shiraishi lashed out to Takayama.  

"Uh, yeah, once again, I am sorry. But I will explain and I hope you will understand why. As I explained yesterday, I tried to analyze the copy of the app I made and at first I thought it would be heavily secured, but it is actually sloppily made. I could easily extract some of the data it gathers from the device in Miss Hamadate's body, but the source code showed something much more interesting. Check this."

Takayama took a piece of paper from her bag and put it on the table. The other three women looked at it, but were clearly confused by the programming language on it. 

"See, this piece of code", Takayama said as she pointed to a certain section. "It has the initials NWI written in the function name. It's the abbreviation for New World Inc! And I found these initials on other places too."

"That's just a coincidence, right? It can probably mean a thousand things", Shiraishi said.

"That's what I thought at first too. But you know that redesigning the website is part of the New World Inc. project, right? I have access to their current website, because I am going to build the new one. The website code has these same initials on various places. And there are other similarities as well. I won't bore you with those, but I actually think the person that made the website also made the app."

"But when? Why? How?", Shiraishi asked. She had a hard time believing Takayama's story. "I apologize for being skeptical, but I don't think your reasoning is enough to conclude New World Inc. is behind all this. This won't hold in court."

"It won't. But it's the only possible lead we have right now and we need to investigate this further. And that's why I brought Miss Nishino. She... oh that's right, I haven't told you yet, but Miss Yoshida is missing since for six days now. We hope she shows up again very soon, of course, but in the meantime, Miss Nishino covers for her. And I thought of a plan."

All three of them looked at Nishino. She wasn't able to hide her nervousness, especially because she didn't know what Takayama's plan was. She only knew she had to take care of it.

"Tomorrow, Miss Nishino will go to New World Inc. to give a presentation of the progress of the project. You have a slideshow prepared, right?"

Nishino nodded. Takayama took a USB-stick from her bag, and put it on the table before Nishino. 

"You need to copy it to this stick. Because on this stick is also a virus. While you are holding the presentation, this virus will copy itself to their network. That should only take a couple of minutes, but don't rush your story. Once it has network access, I have too."

"Would that work? They protect that stuff", Shiraishi said, still skeptical.

"I will be monitoring the whole process, and I can hack through their security if necessary. Shouldn't be too hard. And I especially made the virus to be as invisible as possible to avoid detection. It can disguise itself, it just looks at the other data that is being transferred over the network and it takes the same shape and form. I call it Chameleon!", Takayama continued proudly.

"And you made this overnight", Nishino asked.

"I had it lying around for a while. Don't ask. But Miss Hamadate? You were going to say that you are going to surrender to them? Because that is, kind of, part of my plan..."

"Then screw the plan!", Shiraishi shouted angrily. A few heads turned around once more.

"I have made up my mind", Hamadate said calmly, looking at Shiraishi. "I will go to the designated location tomorrow. With or without you."

"It's not great, but there is no other way to save Miss Higuchi", Takayama continued. "And I am sure they won't hurt Miss Hamadate, she is too valuable. Once I got access to their systems, I can continually check her whereabouts. It will at least buy us some time to come up with a new plan and get Hamadate out. So... are you in? Miss Hamadate? Miss Nishino?"

Both women nodded.

"Miss Shiraishi?"

"What if you are completely wrong, and New World Inc. has nothing to do with this?"

"Then... we might never see Miss Hamadate again."

✧ To be continued ✧

 


	16. Breach

"Good morning, everyone. I am Nishino Nanase, and I am currently replacing Miss Yoshida, who can't be here due to private matters. I hope I can explain our recent developments on the project as clearly as she can. Today, I will show you the finalized brochure designs and the marketing plan that goes with it. Please give me a minute to set things up."

She walked to the laptop in the corner. It was connected to a big screen that was hanging on the wall of the presentation room. Her heartbeat rose quickly as she took off the cap from the USB-stick and put it into the computer. She checked if the computer was connected to the network, as Takayama had urged her to do many times. It was. She double clicked the icon that popped up, and the first slide of her presentation opened on the big screen. 

She walked back and faced her audience again, that consisted of Mister Sato, two men from the marketing department and a woman that hadn't introduced herself but was already writing things down hurriedly. Nishino felt her palms became sweaty. She wasn't too fond of speaking in public, but at the moment, that was the least of her fears. 

She looked at her phone that vibrated before her on the desk. A message from Takayama appeared on the screen.

_Signal received! It is copying! Just make sure you don't pull out the stick before I say you can. :)_

"Miss Nishino? Can we start?", Sato asked impatiently. 

"Uh, yeah, I am sorry. Let's start with the brochure. I have brought a copy for all of you, please open the envelope in front of you. I will explain the most important changes."

Nishino continued her presentation, making sure she didn't talk too fast, and occasionally took a quick look at the clock on the wall. Five minutes. The virus needs five minutes to copy itself, Takayama had said. Nishino realized that five minutes can feel like a lifetime under these circumstances. 

Halfway through her presentation, she was suddenly interrupted by a ringtone. It was Sato's phone. 

"I am very sorry to interrupt you Miss Nishino, I need to take this for a moment", he said while bowing his head slightly. Nishino nodded approvingly.

"Yes? This is Sato." 

The room went quiet for a few seconds, except for the inaudible voice of the caller.

"Wait. A security breach? Are you sure?", Sato responded.

His words created a hot flash all over Nishino's body. Her face turned red, and she felt as if the floor underneath her disappeared. 

"I am sorry", Sato said while putting his phone in his jacket, "I need to leave you for a few minutes, due to an urgent matter. Please wait here, hopefully we can continue in a short while."

Sato left the room, and his three subordinates started talking to each other, a bit confused as well by the sudden interruption. "Did they find out?", Nishino thought, and looked at the clock. 8 minutes had passed since Takayama's message. She glanced at her phone. No new messages. She tried really hard to hide the panic that seemed to grow with every minute of silence. 

15 minutes. Still no message. "Please Takayama, whatever you are doing, don't mess it up", she thought. 

The door opened and Sato stepped inside.

"There she is", he said to the two guards that stepped into the room with him.

"W...what is the meaning of this?", Nishino asked. She never felt this afraid before.

 ✧✧✧

It was 10 minutes before noon. Shiraishi looked around. She heard the splashing of the Arakawa river in the distance, but the view of it was blocked by high concrete walls, full of graffiti. The high grass pricked her legs and the faint smell of something burnt hung in the air. This was a godforsaken place, the ideal spot for illegal activities and shady trades.

But she didn't care about the surroundings. Only about the woman next to her. Hamadate was the bravest woman in the world. And she was going to lose her a second time. She was convinced of that.

"Hamadate..."

"Stop. I know what you are going to say. But you're wrong. I won't be gone long."

Hamadate walked to Shiraishi, grabbed her gently and gave her a firm kiss.

"We'll meet again", she repeated after her lips released those of Shiraishi.

At exactly 12 p.m., a large car with blinded windows approached and stopped 10 meters before the two women. The driver, a man in his thirties, stepped out. 

"Miss Hamadate? We have come to pick you up. Please follow me."

"Where is Miss Higuchi!?", Shiraishi yelled back at him. "You promised to set her free."

"She is in the car. As soon as Miss Hamadate enters the car, we'll release her."

"I can't accept that!", Shiraishi said and reached for the gun she had hidden behind her back. "Release Miss Higuchi, now!", she threatened as she pointed the gun to the driver. Hamadate looked at Shiraishi, shaking her head, her lips saying "no", but there was no sound.

"NOW!", Shiraishi repeated firmly.

Two car doors opened. Another henchman and Sato Kaede stepped out. Sato approached Shiraishi and Hamadate, while the two men drew their guns. 

"Miss Shiraishi. We finally meet in person. But could you lower your gun? You know, for the ease of conversation?"

"I won't. Not until you return Hinachi to us."

"Hinachi? You call her Hinachi? How touching. But you do realize you are outnumbered, don't you? And my men are trained gunmen. You are not. Also..."

Sato grabbed a little remote from her coat pocket. 

"...see this button?", she continued. "Once I press this, a certain triangular shaped apparatus goes boom."

Shiraishi's eyes widened.

"I see you understand. Now, you drop that gun and Miss Hamadate comes with us. That way, nobody explodes."

Shiraishi knew she was defeated. She lowered her gun and let it fall to the ground, after which she raised her arms. 

"Good girl. Miss Hamadate, let's go", Sato said.

Hamadate followed Sato. Once near the car, the driver opened one of the back doors and pushed her into the car. Sato turned around to Shiraishi.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you. Goodbye."

"Wait! What about Higuchi? Your part of the deal was to release Higuchi! Let her go!"

"And your part of the deal didn't involve you threatening my men with a gun. That's why I am bringing her back with me."

"NO! Please, just release her. She has nothing to do with this", Shiraishi pleaded.

"You should be happy I am not putting a bullet in your head right now. But I have to admit I take pleasure in leaving you here, all alone, with just your thoughts. And, perhaps, guilt? You messed up, Shiraishi Mai."

Sato entered the car, slammed the door and the car took off. Shiraishi ran after it with all her might. "Please stop! I'll take her place! I beg you! Don't do this!"

The car accelerated, its tires leaving a cloud of sandy dust behind it. Shiraishi ran and ran, but the distance between Shiraishi and the car increased, and once she got out of breath, she fell on her knees. 

"Please stop! Please stop...", she said with the little voice she had left. The car took a right turn in the distance and went out of her sight. Shiraishi was all alone, with just her thoughts, in a godforsaken place.

✧ To be continued ✧

 

 

 


	17. Trust

"Please, Miss Nishino, don't panic. There has been an unauthorized entry in the south wing of this building, which needs further investigation. But we have to continue your presentation another time. Could you please collect your stuff? These men will escort you to your ride. No need to fear, it's just a safety measure. I apologize if I scared you", Mister Sato explained to Nishino. 

Nishino nodded. Hiding her relief, she walked to the desk to grab her papers and phone. She glanced at the latter, but there was still no message from Takayama. She sighed and walked to the computer to get the USB-stick. There was no way to stall this anymore. She felt the eyes of Sato and the two guards staring at her. 

She felt her phone vibrate in her hand once she stood in front of the computer. It was a message from Takayama.

_I'm in! Great job! Sorry for the delay... please return safely._

Nishino smiled and pulled the USB-stick out of the computer and put it in her bag. 

"I'm ready", she told the guards. "Mister Sato, please call out office if you are ready to schedule a new appointment."

"I will. Thank you."

Ten minutes later, Nishino stood on the plaza before the building, and she immediately grabbed her phone to call Takayama.

"Miss Nishino? Are you okay?"

"Yes. I think I am. Are you at the office?"

"No, I asked if I could work at home today. Because, well, I am not actually working."

"Alright, I'm on my way."

✧✧✧

Takayama immediately hugged Nishino when she opened the door and saw her colleague, safe and sound. "You have done great, Nishino! I am so proud of you!"

"I didn't really do much... mostly waiting. It took a bit longer to copy the virus, didn't it? You were just in time, I had to leave the building. There was an intruder or something..."

"Uh yeah, that intruder was my work", Takayama interrupted. "The virus was halfway blocked by security software, and I needed to hack it. Luckily I already had access to their alarm systems. So I let it go off in the south wing, as a decoy. While they focused on the fake intruder, I could hack their software without anyone looking. It was still a risk though, but one I had to take and it went well. Come, look at this."

Takayama guided Nishino to a large table that was filled with computer screens, wires and other tech stuff of which Nishino could determine its function. The whole setup made a lot of noise, but it looked impressive nonetheless.

"Should we call you Oracle?", Nishino asked, her eyes full of amazement. 

Takayama smiled. "Look, this monitor shows the camera feeds of the whole building. All of them. We can track Miss Matsu... Hamadate's whereabouts with this. And see these files? Floor maps of the whole complex. And here... the complete employee database, including schedules, Birthdays... we hit the jackpot!"

"This is truly spectacular. Well done! By the way, did you hear anything from Miss Shiraishi yet?"

"No. Their deadline was an hour ago. I hope it all went according to plan, but who knows what they have done to Miss Higuchi. She was beat up heavily when she was kidnapped. I assume they went to a hospital first, so let's just wait for them."

"Takayama! Look!", Nishino said while pointing at one of the screens. The camera feed showed a large corridor, with white walls and many doors. A couple of men were walking, and two women were pushed forward, their hands cuffed. 

"That's Miss Hamadate...", Takayama said.

"But that other woman. Is that... Higuchi?"

"What... was this a trap?", Takayama said. She started to type away on a keyboard, quickly switching from camera feed to camera feed. "Maybe Miss Shiraishi has been captured as well. Please look closely if you see her."

That moment, someone knocked at the door. "Miss Takayama?", a voice on the other side said. Recognizing Shiraishi's voice, Takayama quickly opened the door. Shiraishi was but a shell of her former self. Her eyes were hollow, her skin eerily grey colored. She stumbled in and collapsed crying. 

"It's all my fault. I tried to save them..."

Nishino dashed to Shiraishi and helped her to get up. 

"Come here, and sit down. Tell us what happened."

Shiraishi told everything that happened that fateful moment, including her impulsive actions. 

"How could you...", Nishino asked in disbelief. "You risked everything. Everything! They both could meet their doom because of your recklessness! If they do, it's your responsibility!"

"Miss Nishino, calm down", Takayama said. "What's done is done. We need to decide what to do next. Being angry won't help."

"But she's right", Shiraishi cried. "She has every right to scold me. I destroyed everything. I put the people I love in danger."

"For now, they are both still alive. We just seen both of them on the camera", Takayama explained. "They're currently being held in the west wing, a high tech part of the New World Inc. building. The hack worked, so we can see everything. Even the prison cells have cameras."

Takayama took Shiraishi by the hand and guided her to the computer screens, Nishino followed them. Takayama started switching through the camera feeds of the prison cells until they saw Higuchi in one of them. She was walking in circles slowly, touching the walls with her right hand. 

"Oh God, Hinachi...", Shiraishi said with a shivering voice.

Takayama continued, and three prison cells later, they found Hamadate. She was pounding the doors with her fists, and although the feed has no sound, it was clear she was furious.

"Miss Shiraishi. I need you to be brave once more", Takayama said as she turned to the sobbing woman. "They are both alive. But we better act quickly. I need you. And you as well, Miss Nishino. I hope you are still in?"

Nishino first looked at Shiraishi with contempt, then to Takayama. She nodded hesitantly. "For the sake of Miss Higuchi and Miss Hamadate."

"Thank you, I appreciate that. I already have a plan, so please listen. Miss Nishino, I need you to infiltrate the west wing, release the girls and escort them to safety. And you Miss Shiraishi, I need you on the outside. There might be a moment when Miss Nishino needs assistance, and that's when you come in action. I will be in the vicinity. I'll load these computers in the back of my van, in order to keep track of everything. I'll be your eyes and ears, so to speak. Once you are all out, I will drive you to safety. We do this first thing in the morning."

"That's... impossible", Nishino said. "Security is too tight. They checked my identity three times in 15 minutes today! And that was only for a simple presentation... If I walk in casually without an appointment, they might throw me in a cell as well."

Takayama turned to her computer and started typing.

"Aaaand... done! I just fiddled with their schedule and made you an appointment. You'll get past the lobby. And although we might have to improvise on the spot, I'll get you through the rest as well. But only if you trust me and listen to me."

"I do, and I will", Nishino answered.

"Shiraishi, can you bring that gun with you one more time? I can't send in Nishino with a weapon, but we need you and some firepower if things go south."

Shiraishi stared at the floor, and nodded lightly.

"Can I also trust you not to act on your own accord? I need your word on this."

"..."

"Shiraishi!", Nishino yelled.

"I can't give you my word. I... I don't trust myself, to be honest", Shiraishi answered.

Takayama sighed. "Well, there is nothing we can do about that, I guess. At least you're honest about it. Just don't do anything without consulting me first. Now, let's get some rest. It'll be an early day tomorrow."

✧✧✧

Nishino walked through one of the big front doors of the New World Inc. building. Her heartbeat reverberated throughout her whole body. The large lobby seemed smaller than yesterday, but Nishino realized it must be a figment of her imagination. There were many people walking around, and everyone seemed to be minding their own business. 

Takayama sat in the back of her van, parked just outside the New World Inc. grounds. She was surrounded by various computers and screens, all connected to a power generator. 

"Nishino, do you hear me?", she said into a small microphone, that was connected to the earpieces worn by the two other women. 

"Loud and clear", Nishino replied softly.

"Good. Let's start. And remember, don't talk to me when you are near others, use the signs we discussed."

Nishino raised her index and middle finger to indicate she understood, and walked to the reception. "Good morning. I have an appointment with Miss Akimoto. My name is Nishino Nanase."

"Nishino... Nanase...", the man behind the counter said as he typed the words. He looked at the screen, seemingly waiting for a response. "Hmm. I see you have an appointment indeed. But Miss Akimoto hasn't arrived yet. She... oh... never mind, she just checked in. Please wait for a minute, my colleague will be here soon to show you the way."

"I said I got your back, didn't I?", Nishino heard Takayama gloat through her earpiece. She smiled. Being watched over like this put her mind at ease. Somewhat.

"I arrived at the loading door of the west wing", Shiraishi said to Takayama.

"Great. On the right side of it, there is a ladder to the roof. Go up there. You will see a camera, but don't worry. I replaced the live stream with the picture of yesterday, so they won't see you. When you are on the roof, just wait and lay low", Takayama instructed.

A woman approached Nishino, who was still waiting in the lobby. "Miss Nishino? Welcome. I'll bring you to Miss Akimoto's office."

"Listen closely, Nishino", Takayama said. Her voice changed to a more serious tone. "You are now entering a heavily secured area, so I need you do whatever I say without hesitation. And be prepared, you need to hurt this woman at one point."

"What?", Nishino hissed.

"Quiet! Or she'll hear you. I'm not saying you have to kill her. Just... render her unconscious."

Just the thought of it created an unsettling feeling in Nishino's stomach. In her whole life, she never landed so much as a punch. But something inside her knew all the time this couldn't be done without spilling some blood.

"In about half a minute, you'll make a left turn", Takayama continued. "After that, three men will walk past the two of you. Wait until they are around the corner. On my signal, grab the fire extinguisher on the right side from the wall and deliver a steady blow on her head with it. You only get one shot at this. Be quick and make it count."

✧ To be continued ✧

 


	18. Stealth

Nanase could feel her hands getting sweaty. She knew she had to grab that fire extinguisher as Takayama told her to do, and if she did, there was no turning back. They took the left turn. She also saw the three men Takayama mentioned approaching. And there it was, about thirty meters in front of her. It was the perfect distance. Would the extinguisher be any closer, there was a risk that the three men might hear what was about to go down. Any further, and her hesitation might get the best of her.

Ten meters. Nishino slowly sidestepped to the wall, preparing for Takayama's cue.

"Keep your pace like this, grab the extinguisher and knock her out. No one's watching."

Nishino took a deep breath and tore the extinguisher of the wall. The woman turned around. 

"What are you..."

The extinguisher landed on her forehead, which prevented her to finish that sentence. A loud moan escaped from her mouth as she grabbed her head with both hands. Blood trickled on the ground. Nishino realized her blow didn't knock her out, and the woman's cries made her fear that someone would be alarmed. She swung the extinguisher again, this time against the side of the woman's head. It did the job. Nishino looked at the woman as she fell on the ground. Her legs shook with adrenaline.

"Nice one, Nishino. But you have to hurry. A few meters ahead, you see a door. That's the lavatory. Pick up that woman and hide her in one of the stalls. After that, you put on her clothes and take her access card. It's easier to blend in when you wear the uniform. The card should give you access to most locations."

After picking up the motionless woman, Nishino opened one of the toilet doors and put the woman on the seat. She wasn't sure if she was dead or just unconscious. She feared she had killed her, but Nishino didn't feel like confirming it and started to undress her.

"Uh... Takayama... there is blood all over her jacket. I can't wear this."

"You have to. Try to wash it off or something. And check for blood in the hall, we shouldn't leave traces."

Five minutes later, Nishino stepped out of the toilet room into the corridor. The uniform was wet, but at least she was able to wash off most of the blood. As long as she didn't come to close to anyone, she should be good.

"Looks great, Nishino. Proceed through the hallway, until you see an elevator on your right hand side. There are also a few employees coming towards you, just act normally."

Nishino nodded, and started to walk in the mentioned direction. She tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible. If there was one thing that could blow her cover, it was the tension in her eyes. 

"Uh... Nishino, I don't want to pressure you, but they are taking Hamadate somewhere. She just got picked up from her cell."

"What about Higuchi?"

"Still locked up. From where you are now, she is the closest. Let's get her out first. Take the elevator to the 4th floor."

The elevator doors closed. Nishino took a deep breath, as she was alone for a few seconds. The elevator stopped at the 2nd floor. The doors opened and a young man stepped into the elevator.

"Good morning ma'am", he greeted. Nishino nodded politely in return.

The elevator going up the next two floors seemed to take ages, and she had to restrain herself not to jump out when she finally arrived. 

"Excuse me", she heard the man behind her say while he also got off the elevator. "Who are you? I haven't seen you before."

"Takahara Umeki. Your name is Takahara Umeki", she heard in her ear.

"I am, uh, Takahara Umeki. Nice to meet you."

"What happened? Is that... blood?"

"Uh... yeah. A man slipped and fell on his head in the lobby. I had to perform first aid. I'm on my way to get a clean uniform", Nishino lied.

The man looked at her, one eyebrow raised. "That's an... unusual start of the day, Miss Takahara. I hope the rest of your day will be better", he said, turned around and walked away.

"Well done Nishino!", she heard Takayama root in her ear. A sigh of relief was the only thing she could produce at the moment. 

"The cell block is at the end of this hall. I just authorized you to enter it. Tell the guard you are there to bring medicine. He'll scan your access card, and you can pass. Oh... and ask for a set of handcuffs. I'll explain later."

It was as easy as Takayama made it to be. A few minutes later, Nishino found herself in the cell block, holding a set of handcuffs. There were cameras everywhere, making whizzing sounds as they moved left and right, up and down continuously. Although Takayama didn't say anything about them, Nishino trusted that she somehow disabled these as well.

"It's the 5th cell on your left."

Nishino hurried to the white and shiny door, and pushed the access card into the slot. The light turned from red to blue, and the door slid open with a satisfying beep.

"Miss Nishino?", Higuchi said. Her eyes grew large and she shook her head. "I can't believe it. You're one of them?"

"No no no, not at all. I'm here to get you and Hamadate out. Takayama is guiding me, and Shiraishi is standing by as well."

Higuchi closed her eyes and sighed, a tear ran down her face. "I'm sorry. I just don't know who to trust anymore."

Nishino turned to listen to the instructions Takayama was giving and looked to the woman that was still standing in the midst of the cell.

"Okay, Higuchi. Can you walk? Have you eaten something this morning already?"

Higuchi nodded at both questions.

"This may sound strange," Nishino continued, "but I need you to throw up. Can you do that?"

"What? Why?"

"There is no time to explain the plan, I am afraid. You'll understand soon enough."

Higuchi slowly brought her finger to her mouth, paused for a second, and pushed it into her throat. The gag reflex did its job, Higuchi's breakfast ended up on the floor. 

"Good job", Nishino said as she cuffed the woman, who was still trembling with disgust. "I need you to keep this look on your face for another minute though."

"That... won't be a problem", Higuchi replied.

Nishino walked Higuchi to the hall outside the cell block and turned to the guard. 

"I am taking prisoner Higuchi from cell number 5 to the infirmary. She appears to suffer from food poisoning. Your permission, sir?"

The guard looked at the two woman in front of her. He sniffed his nose, retracted his head and started to wave his arm in front of his face.  

"Smells serious. Permission granted."

"You two are born for this!", Takayama rejoiced. "There is nobody in the toilet room 20 meters ahead of you. You can loosen the handcuffs there, but keep them on Higuchi. Oh, an update about Hamadate, they just brought her to a large room, I think it's a laboratory or something like that. Lots of computers and devices. I am afraid they are up to no good. It's on the same floor as the infirmary though, so you can get very close to her. Just keep up with this food poisoning act."

"Shouldn't I bring Higuchi to a safe place and pick her up later."

"The safest place is with you. If needed, I can give her instructions through you. Now, go to the elevator and ascend to the 12th floor. It's the top floor. Please quicken your pace. They are strapping Hamadate to some kind of machinery."

Nishino and Higuchi did as Takayama instructed, and a few minutes later, the two women stood before the door of the laboratory. 

"I... I...", Higuchi stammered. Her eyes were wet, her face pale behind the bruises. Nishino looked around. After making sure there was no one around, she put her arms around Higuchi and embraced her tightly.

"I am scared as well. But it's almost over. We get Hamadate out, and we escape through the roof. Shiraishi is waiting for us there", Nishino comforted her.

"Nishino, watch out", Takayama's voice urged. "The bad guys are leaving the lab. As soon as you hear the door make a sound, start walking to the infirmary."

Nishino let go of Higuchi and clenched her fists. The door beeped and opened. "Stop loitering, you're not that ill!", she said while she gave a firm push in Higuchi's back. Two women wearing lab coats left the laboratory, ignored the play that was happening in front of them and walked to the elevator.

"Keep walking... keep walking... they're gone. Now hurry back quickly. There is no one in the laboratory at the moment."

"Huh? Why would they leave her all alone in such a place? Isn't that strange?", Nishino answered to Takayama.

"Perhaps, but it is also an opportunity. Use your card to get in and find a way to untie Hamadate. I'll work on an escape route."

_Beep_

Both Nishino and Higuchi dropped their jaws when the door opened and the view of the large room appeared before them. It was filled with strange machines that seemed to come right out of a science fiction movie. Screens on the wall showed graphs, body scans and other complex data. On the tables were vials with strange colored liquids. In the middle, Hamadate lay on a table with her eyes closed. The belts on her hands and feet were preventing every movement. On her head was a helmet shaped device, connected to an enigmatic machine that stood behind her. The screen showed unrecognizable scribbles.

"What fresh hell..."

"Nishino, close the door", Higuchi said. "It's probably safer."

Nishino did as Higuchi suggested and joined her at the table, trying to release Hamadate from her captivity. 

"Takayama, why is Hamadate unconscious? Have you by any chance seen what they did to her?", Nishino asked while pulling the belts. 

No reaction. 

"Takayama? Do you read?" 

Nothing. Nishino looked at Higuchi. "We lost contact", she said, her lips trembling. "Maybe... they found her?"

"It could very well be this room and all the machinery interfering with the signal", Higuchi said in an effort to ease Nishino's concerns. 

Nishino suddenly looked up. "Wait! Do you hear that? Voices!" A mere second after her realization, the door beeped. In a reflex, both women jumped behind the machine in an attempt to hide themselves. Nishino looked at Higuchi, who crouched to make herself as small as possible. She copied her behavior, worried that her heartbeat would be audible to everyone in the room. Hoping Takayama would save them, by providing them a perfect escape plan. 

"Oh shoot, I forgot my datapad. Please wait Miss Hori, I will be right back", they heard a womans voice say.

Nishino tried to concentrate on the footsteps of the other woman, that became louder with every step. She heard them stop next to the table where Hamadate was lying. 

"Just sleep a little longer, Miss Hamadate, and you will be healed again", she heard her say softly. 

Nishino must have lost her concentration for a second. She never heard the sound of a cocking gun before, but when she heard the weapon click behind her head and saw the tears appear in Higuchi's eyes, she realized they were in big trouble. 

"This is where it ends", Hori Miona smirked.

✧ To be continued ✧

 

 


	19. Departure

The loud bang of a gun reverberated throughout the laboratory. Nishino froze, and her ears were ringing. She traced every part of her body with her mind, trying to look for any pain signal but there wasn't one. She looked to Higuchi, who stared wide-eyed to something that was happening behind Nishino's back. Then she heard the thud of a body falling behind her. A sigh escaped from Nishino's mouth and she turned around, seeing Hori's lifeless body, a pool of blood slowly forming under her. Shiraishi came running from the entrance of the laboratory, and tucked the gun behind her back.

"Is everyone okay?", she asked with a shaking voice.

"Mai!" Higuchi jumped up and threw her arms around Shiraishi. "Please, get us out of here."

"Thank God", Nishino sighed. "You arrived just in time. We lost contact with Takayama. I am glad she sent you in."

"I lost contact with her too. I feared things went awry, so I couldn't just sit and wait up there."

"What? So you did as you pleased again? You remember how well that worked the last time?", Nishino reacted, her face turning red. 

"Oh please, spare me your lecture. If I didn't show up, it could be  _your_ dead body lying here. So shut up, take this knife and cut the belts."

Nishino glared at Shiraishi and silently took the knife. Shiraishi walked to the end of the table and removed the headgear from Hamadate's head, and with it, her connection to the machine. Her eyes blinked at few times and then opened. 

"W-where am I?", she asked, confused by the three familiar faces that were hovering above her.

"Don't worry, we're here to get you out", Shiraishi said while she gently stroke Hamadate's hair. "Nishino, Higuchi, lift her from the table and support her."

The two of them did as Shiraishi asked, while Shiraishi grabbed a few vials from a nearby table and started throwing them at the machine Hamadate was connected to.

"What are you doing? We need to go now!", Nishino exclaimed. 

"This thing needs to be destroyed. It is evil", Shiraishi said. She started pulling the wires and smashing the screen with the grip of her gun. Sparks were flying off the device and smoke started coming out several cracks. 

"Let's go!", Nishino urged. 

The machine caught flame, which seemed to satisfy Shiraishi. She sped to the other three that stood near the door. 

"Hamadate, can you walk by yourself?", she asked her. Hamadate nodded. "Then follow me. We go back the way I came in. No more sneaky stuff. If we run into someone, we fight."

Shiraishi took the lead and the three other women followed her movements. They left the laboratory, but their attempt to flee the building was halted abruptly.

"Stop, or I'll shoot," a familiar voice made them turn around. 

"Yoshida?", Shiraishi said in disbelief when she saw her former colleague pointing a gun at her. "What is going on?"

"Ha! Don't call me Yoshida. I am far superior to that pathetic excuse of a woman. And you are as well, Miss Hamadate. You should be grateful. We gave you a second chance. A second chance to live your life, to be a good person. But you decided to believe in the lies of Shiraishi Mai. But don't worry, I'll get rid of that pest of a woman right now."

Yoshida pulled the trigger. Shiraishi closed her eyes, and in the millisecond after the deafening sound, she calmly accepted her fate. She felt a weight crashing into her from the side, and a few moments later, she hit the cold floor. 

She didn't know how long it took for her to realize she wasn't dead. Slowly, the blur from her eyes faded away. A few meters in front of her, she saw Yoshida lying on the floor. Dead. Above her towered Nishino, holding Shiraishi's knife.

Shiraishi tried to stand up, but a weight prevented her to do so. It didn't immediately dawn on her what happened when she noticed Higuchi lying on top of her, but when she noticed the short and heavy breathing of her girlfriend, Shiraishi panicked. 

"Hinachi!"

Shiraishi laid her on her back carefully and pressed her hands on the wound to stop the bleeding. Shiraishi's face became wet with tears. "This isn't happening..." Shiraishi softly said, wondering how many times a person can burden the pain of seeing the life of your loved ones fade away into eternal sleep.

"Hinachi, stay with me", she cried. Hamadate and Nishino crouched around Higuchi. 

"Shiraishi, tell us where to go. Hamadate and I will carry her", Nishino commanded, realizing she was the only one with the strength to make decisions. 

"No... you.. won't make it...", Higuchi coughed. Her eyes were wet and her chest was moving fast. "Leave me..."

A loud explosion in the laboratory shook the building, and soon thereafter, smoke and flames escaped through the lab door. An alarm started to wail in the corridor. 

"I won't leave you", Shiraishi cried. "We can all live to tell this."

"That's not true... Mai. Either I die... or we all do. Get away... please. Make it out alive... save Nishino and... save Hamadate. She's your number one... make her happy as only you can..."

Shiraishi shook her head. There were so many things she wanted to say but the words wouldn't come out. The elevator doors at the end of the corridor opened and a group of armed guards appeared.

"Run... and give me your gun. I will take down as many... as I can."

There was nothing left to do for Shiraishi but to accept the dreadful situation. She grabbed her gun, put it in the hands of Higuchi and kissed her goodbye, in quiet despair. 

"Mai... it was a pleasure... being number two."

The sound of guns firing and ricocheting bullets filled the corridor as Shiraishi, Nishino and Hamadate started to run for their lives. Shiraishi, numb with sadness, somehow managed to focus on the escape route. After a few turns left and right, they arrived at the emergency stairs leading to the rooftop. In the distance, they could hear more explosions. It made them hurry to the roof, where a helicopter was just taking off. 

"Sato Kaede! She's getting away!", Nishino said pointing at the aircraft. 

"Nishino? Is that you?" Nishino heard Takayama say through the earpiece.

"Takayama? Yes it's me. It's us."

"Thank God. I somehow couldn't get through to you anymore. Get off the roof as soon as you can. The place is about to blow up. I am already heading your way."

A few minutes later, a van crashed through the fence and made a U-turn when Takayama hit the brake. "Quick, jump in! The rear door is open!"

Shiraishi looked out the back window of the van, while Takayama pushed the pedal to the metal. As the van sped away, the flames reached the rooftop, and a large pillar of pitch black smoke was ascending into the sky. It was almost as black as the hole inside Shiraishi's soul. She couldn't deny her mistakes, but the punishment was too harsh, too bleak, too cruel. 

✧✧✧

One month later.

Shiraishi kneeled and laid the bouquet of sunflowers in front of the tombstone. She just finished washing the monument and the sun reflected softly on the stone that was still wet. A little smile appeared on her face. 

"Hinachi... how are you? Sorry for not visiting you sooner. I hope you understand. It was too difficult. I wasn't sure if I was able to come here today, but here I am."

Shiraishi took a deep breath and touched the stone. Although Higuchi's body wasn't physically here, it was a beautifully designed memorial of a woman gone too soon.

"I have been wanting to tell you that I am a bit mad at you. That bullet... it was meant for me. I had that bullet coming for a long time. You had no right to catch it."

A tear appeared in the corner of her left eye.

"I survived, but at what cost? I don't know how to live on without you, but..."

Shiraishi gulped. 

"Hinachi, I climbed to the roof of my apartment two days ago. I walked to the edge, just one step away of being reunited with you again. But Hamadate came at the right moment. She reminded me of what you said when... when..."

The tears started flowing.

"So I made a promise. I am going to make Hamadate happy. Because eventually, that will make  _me_ happy. You knew that all along, didn't you? Hinachi, you knew, right? I am so sorry... will you forgive me when we meet again?"

✧ To be continued ✧  
  
  
  


 


	20. Reincarnation

"Woah, this is quite a setback... but it's good to see you didn't give up."

The small room was packed with computers and machines, their screens emitting a blueish hue that illuminated most of the room. On the table, a pizza with only one bite out of it was getting cold. 

"You know what they say. Sometimes, you need to take a step back to take two steps forward", Sato Kaede replied to her visitor.

"Say, did you manage to save her?"

Sato nodded. "Follow me." She held her hand on the fingerprint scanner on the wall. The door next to it opened with a click. The room on the other side was twice as large as the room leading to it. It was also very neat and tidy. Against the walls, there were lots of monitors and measuring devices. They all connected to a cylinder shaped machine that stood in the center of it all. A cylinder made of glass, filled with an enigmatic but transparent liquid. Inside of it was a young woman, seemingly floating in the middle. Wires and tubes were connected to every part of her body.

"I'd like you to meet my newest prototype: HH003", Sato said with a smile from ear to ear.

"Good lord... you actually did it! is she stable?"

"She is. I've learned a lot from the previous two... experiments. Isn't she gorgeous? By the way, how is the patch coming along?"

"It's done. I actually came here to tell you about it. I uploaded the patch to Hamadate's internal controller this morning. The change should be gradually. I'd should be three weeks, give or take, before every bit of human emotion is erased from her. She'll kill Shiraishi without batting an eye once we tell her to."

"That's wonderful. Justice will finally prevail. Great job, Miss Takayama. Thank you very much."

✧ The end ✧

 


End file.
